The world’s food systems are responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Agricultural production and land-use change account for more than two-thirds of food systems emissions. The remaining comes from supply chain activities including retail, transportation, consumption, and packaging.
Improving agricultural technologies and reducing food loss and waste are two crucial areas in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agri-food sector. Through our different initiatives to improve farm productivity and efficiency of the supply chain, we contribute to the mitigation of agriculture-related emissions.
As a technology company led by engineers, Pinduoduo’s motivation has always been to apply our technology, resources, and scale to develop solutions that are “people first,” “more open,” and will “benefit all.”
Even though agriculture touches the daily lives of everyone, the level of digital penetration is still relatively low compared to other industries in China and globally.
There is now a strong and growing consciousness to build a more resilient and sustainable agri-food system that benefits people and the environment. Our work with farmers to promote digital inclusion is also directed at introducing cost-effective technology that can help growers be more precise and efficient in cultivating crops.
By judiciously applying precision agricultural technology, we can optimize the use of limited resources like water and land while eradicating the overuse of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and antibiotics that harm human and environmental health. The result is higher agricultural productivity at a lower environmental and economic cost.
Our environmental efforts are centered on the twin pillars of (1) people and (2) technology.
To strengthen the food supply chain, we need to improve the position of farmers. Only by developing human capital in rural areas can we achieve better technology adoption that can lead to higher productivity and yield.
Duo Duo Farm is a Pinduoduo poverty alleviation project that seeks to equip impoverished farming communities with the know-how to improve their crop selection, cultivation and market access.
Pinduoduo aims to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by increasing the yield and efficiency of agricultural production and demonstrating the benefits of broader market opportunities through e-commerce. By doing so, we hope to incentivize farmers to pursue better farming practices that are good for their finances and beneficial to the environment.
One such project is the Nujiang Duo Duo Farm in Lushui, Yunnan province. Flat land is scarce in the mountains and valleys here and in 2014, half of the local population made less than 2,300 yuan ($355) a year. In Sept. 2019, Pinduoduo worked with the local authorities to start the Nujiang Lushui Citron Farming Poverty Alleviation Cooperative, with shares in the cooperative evenly distributed to the 132 households in the village.
For the project, Pinduoduo partnered with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences to promote the intercropping of late-maturing mandarin oranges which were suited for growing alongside the region’s citrons. Drip irrigation and remote monitoring devices were also deployed for the first time on the pilot farm.
Another team from the China Academy of Engineering designed an integrated intelligent precision agriculture system for the project. Farmers could identify trees that needed pesticide and remotely control drones to spray the affected trees, increasing the precision and safeguarding both human and environmental health.
The orange trees grown under this pilot use 15% less fertilizer and 30% less labor. The initiative is also expected to increase farmers’ earnings per acre by 4,800 to 9,000 yuan.
Even as we promote the transfer of agronomic knowledge to help farmers grow better, Pinduoduo is also playing a role in fostering innovation by providing a platform to develop cutting-edge smart agriculture technology that can go from the lab to the field and benefit farmers.
In Oct 2020, Pinduoduo entered into a strategic partnership with the National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture (NERCITA) to jointly develop smart agriculture solutions and alleviate rural poverty.
Under the agreement, both parties will explore advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G, and build an intelligent agriculture innovation center to develop data-driven production and boost sales through brand-building.
The Smart Agriculture Platform that both parties have jointly developed marks the first step toward connecting information on production, transportation and traceability. By enabling greater visibility on these aspects, resources can be used more optimally and supply and demand more seamlessly matched.
To promote innovation in agriculture, Pinduoduo organizes an annual Smart Agriculture Competition, inviting teams from around the world to compete to develop cost-effective technology solutions that will boost the productivity and efficiency of smallholder farming.
The 2021 competition was launched in August, with the practical growing contest for the finals taking place from late Sept. 2021 to late March 2022 at the National Plateau Yunguo Industrial Park in Fumin County, Kunming in Yunnan province. Each participating team will be assigned a 96-square-meter standalone smart greenhouse for growing tomatoes, and the facilities can be operated remotely to control ventilation, shade, water and fertilizer, fans and lighting with help of cameras and sensors.
The overall quality of the crops and nutritional profile will be evaluated by a panel of judges to determine the winner.
The results will take into consideration yield, consumption and cost of energy, water, fertilizer, labor and other planting resources.
The emphasis on nutritional content in this year’s competition is a recognition that nutritional content is an essential dimension in the drive to produce more food using fewer resources.
Last year, the Smart Agriculture Competition saw teams compete to develop “one-click planting” solutions that would raise the yield of strawberry farmers. Several teams have since commercialized their technology, a successful example of transferring technology from the lab to the field.
The technology teams, which employed data analysis, intelligent sensors and greenhouse automation, produced an average 196% more strawberries by weight when compared with the traditional growers. The technologists also outperformed the farmers in terms of return on investment by an average of 75.5%.
Applying “one-click planting” more widely will significantly amplify the productivity and return on investment for participating farms.
This recognition of the potential for precision agriculture and automation led Pinduoduo to sponsor the First China Agricultural Robot Innovation Competition, where teams from universities, scientific research institutes and technology companies showcased their labor-saving innovations.
The competition was held to encourage scientific researchers to innovate in agricultural robotics and develop practical commercial products that can help boost the rural economy.
We hope to encourage more young and ambitious scientists to step forward and help modernize the food and agriculture industry, which can benefit a great number of people and the environment.
Facilitating dialogue and turning talk into action is also the rationale behind our first Food Systems Forum held on 14-15 July.
The virtual two-day forum gathered thought leaders from the multidisciplinary fields of nutrition, agriculture, food policy, investment and regulation to discuss the role of technology in tackling the issues facing the agri-food system.
Through such events, we hope to provide avenues for the exchange of ideas and dissemination of knowledge about best practices across the agri-food system.
The virtual two-day forum gathered thought leaders from the multidisciplinary fields of nutrition, agriculture, food policy, investment and regulation to discuss the role of technology in tackling the issues facing the agri-food system.
Through such events, we hope to provide avenues for the exchange of ideas and dissemination of knowledge about best practices across the agri-food system.
Beyond helping farmers to grow more efficiently, Pinduoduo is also tackling the distribution of agricultural products as an area where carbon emission savings can be had through the application of advanced computing and systems design.
Transportation is a major source of agricultural-related emissions, not just in the fuel emissions from moving produce from one point to another, but also through the loss of food during the journey from farm gate to the consumers’ plates. It is estimated that one-third of all food produced in the world for human consumption never reached consumers’ plates. This represents a waste of the resources used for growing, processing, packaging, transporting and marketing food. The FAO estimates that global food loss and waste generate about 8% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Cold-chain logistics play an important role in minimizing the food loss in the middle segment of the agriculture and food supply chain. Cold-chain logistics refer to a distribution chain where every link from production to consumers is in a controlled low-temperature environment to ensure the quality of goods. In agriculture, cold-chain distribution is used to transport fresh agricultural products and seafood, as well as processed foods that require refrigeration.
With rising living standards, the demand for fresh agricultural products and seafood continues to rise, spurring demand for cold-chain logistics.
However, the development and distribution of cold-chain logistics facilities is uneven, and the industry is characterized by many small and medium-sized providers with few large national players with significant footprint and scale.
At the same time, the continuing shift online of food purchases has created demand for logistics infrastructure that can cater to moving perishables with minimal loss.
Recognizing the gap in the existing infrastructure, Pinduoduo has devoted significant resources to develop an agriculture-focused logistics system that can better match local supply and demand of fresh produce and improve the efficiency of route planning so that cold-chain logistics can be more efficiently utilized to support the rise in point-to-point deliveries.
Better route planning means less distance traveled, which can significantly reduce the loss in quality of agriculture produce post-harvest. Further, less road travel means less fuel expended in the transportation of food, resulting in less carbon emissions.
As of the first half of 2021, Pinduoduo has received approval for patents for its proprietary cold-chain logistics network system, which seeks to minimize the loss and quality degradation of agricultural products and other perishables during transportation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a host of consumer behavioral changes, among which was the buying of fresh food online.
To cater to this demand, Pinduoduo introduced Duo Duo Grocery in August 2020. Customers can enjoy a rolling 24-hour pickup of their grocery orders from preselected collection points. For example, orders placed in the afternoon through Duo Duo Grocery are available for pickup about the same time the following day.
The service, which is now in more than 300 cities, achieves carbon reduction in several ways.
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First, by having the consumer collect the orders themselves, Duo Duo Grocery effectively eliminates the “last mile” leg of the logistics journey, which typically accounts for a third of the cost and significant energy expenditure.
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Second, by matching demand and supply on a geographical basis – that is, consumers are supplied where possible with produce from farms near them – the distance traveled is shortened, cutting transportation emissions.
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Third, by spending less time on the road, the amount of food loss is reduced, cutting down emissions due to food waste. More than 35 million tons of food, or 6 percent of China’s total food production, are estimated to be lost each year.
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Fourth, online sales of agricultural products open a new source of demand for farmers, giving them another option besides selling to wholesale distributors. The improved access to end-consumers creates more demand, helping to reduce the potential of unsold crops, which take up significant resources to produce.
Alternative proteins have gone rapidly from niche product to the mainstream in the past few years, driven by myriad concerns over the impact on human and planetary health and animal welfare from eating and producing more meat to keep pace with a growing global population.
One of the chief environmental concerns about agriculture is the impact of livestock farming. Raising animals for meat contributes to an estimated 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock systems have a significant impact on land use and the quality of the soil, water, and air.
Plant-based and cultured meat have been put forth by proponents as a more environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional animal agriculture and meat consumption.
Pinduoduo has invested in alternative protein companies and is actively engaging with research institutes to pave the way for the adoption of a more carbon-friendly diet.
In May, Pinduoduo teamed up with the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) to conduct a study that aims to determine the nutritional impact on humans from replacing traditional animal proteins with plant-based proteins.
This study will be the first of its kind to focus specifically on novel plant-based meats and their impact on human health. This sets it apart from broader research looking at the health impact of plant-based diets. As these novel foods become more commonplace, consumer education and information about nutrition also needs to keep up.
The environmental impact of agriculture cannot be underestimated. Yet, efforts to modernize and optimize the food supply chain must take into consideration the impact on the different stakeholders, chief among which are the growers and consumers.
By focusing on increasing the level of digitization along the entire food value chain, from production to transportation to consumption, Pinduoduo hopes to use technology to cut waste and inefficiencies, thereby achieving more with less, while benefiting the greatest number of people.
Read about how our efforts to sow the seeds of growth through technology have impacted the lives of our farmers, merchants and other stakeholders.
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