Tech Competition Reinvents Strawberry Cultivation in Shanghai’s Plant Factories

Outside the Shanghai Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Valley building, four plant factories stand side by side. Stepping inside, the fresh fragrance of strawberries greets visitors. Free from wind, rain and sunlight, a competition to grow strawberries in limited space and solve high energy consumption problems is unfolding in these compact areas.

People’s Network reports that the launch ceremony of the 5th “Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition” final and the completion of the plant factories recently took place at Shanghai Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Valley. The four teams that made it to the final include industry pioneers with years of experience in vertical agriculture, young technological innovation forces integrating interdisciplinary fields, practical teams rooted in the industrial front line, and scientific research teams focusing on cutting-edge technological breakthroughs.

Prior to this, the four teams have completed the construction of plant factories, equipment commissioning and test planting stages according to their respective design schemes. Over the next six months, they will focus on high yield, high quality, low cost and low energy consumption, redefining strawberry cultivation methods with technology in 50-square-meter plant factories, focusing on space utilization and energy consumption control. The competition offers a vivid insight into the practical exploration of smart agriculture moving towards industrialization, digitalization and commercialization.

Teams have made meticulous efforts in space utilization and strived for excellence in strawberry quality. He Zhengyang, captain of the Bionic Ecology Team, said, “Initially, we designed the plant factory for maximum yield and planting space, which could theoretically accommodate more than 7,000 strawberry plants. However, in practice, to balance the convenience of later maintenance and the comfort of workers, we decided to sacrifice some planting positions to maximize the operating space.” After space optimization, the planned number of plants is 4,600, with a conservative output estimate of 1,900 kilograms.

Chen Minhui, captain of the Cyber Farmer Team, adopted an overhead rail model instead of traditional ground rails. “The overhead rail model effectively avoids the impact of ground subsidence or rail dust on the operational precision of the plant factory, making it run more stably. We also introduced a movable system to flexibly open or close planting positions, maximizing space utilization while ensuring operating space,” she explained.

Controlling energy consumption is another key challenge for each team. Wang Wanhai, captain of the Opple Smart Berry Team, noted that energy consumption of plant factories mainly comes from lighting and air conditioning, accounting for about 70% of the total operating costs. His team introduced an off-grid photovoltaic energy storage system, installing 24 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels on the top and outer south facade to convert solar energy into electricity, thereby effectively reducing energy consumption.

Yu Hong, judge of the competition, director of the Strawberry Research Team at Hangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences and senior agronomist, explained that soilless cultivation has various forms, including substrate cultivation, deep flow and shallow flow hydroponics. “Shallow flow hydroponics, characterized by a thin nutrient solution layer, is a challenging soilless cultivation method,” she said. He Zhengyang’s team is the only one using this model, overcoming two key technical difficulties with mature control algorithms.

Beyond the competition, technological transformation has already begun. A multi-channel adjustable spectrum bar lamp developed by the Opple Smart Berry Team during the competition has received orders from businesses in Yunnan, which will be put into supplementary light tests at local planting bases. Qin Qing, general manager of Jiqing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., said the competition aims to explore a feasible path for the integration of industry, education and research.

Chen Minhui believes that the core advantages of plant factories lie in annual production and uniform quality. By improving the premium capacity and output efficiency of strawberries, plant factories are expected to achieve real commercial profitability and promote the overall development of the industry.