What began as a 24-hour hackathon involving 21 international teams and more than 200 participants from 26 countries has narrowed to five groups competing to most efficiently leverage artificial intelligence to remotely grow a crop of tomatoes in the Dutch town of Bleiswijk, agricultural media outlet Fruitnet reported.
Why it matters: Feeding its 1.37 billion citizens is one of China’s biggest priorities and it continues to promote the development of agricultural technology to address the vulnerability.
Details: The second Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge, which began in September and is organized by Wageningen University & Research together with Tencent, first tasked participants with creating algorithms that could best manage a variety of variables including temperature, light, and CO2 under simulated conditions.
Context: Last year’s Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge saw finalists compete to grow cucumbers using AI, with the winner chosen based on net profit from the sale of their crop, the use of AI, and sustainability.