Institute selects Syngenta Crop Challenge finalists

Institute selects Syngenta Crop Challenge finalists
Institute selects Syngenta Crop Challenge finalists

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) recently selected finalists for the Syngenta Crop Challenge.  

Challenge participants will develop predictions for recommended seed varieties that farmers should plant. The goal of the challenge is to get farmers to plant seed varieties next year that will provide the best yield for the individual farm, and aid in the global hunger problem by using the most advanced biochemistry and agriculture applications.

The finalists include: "Balancing weather risk and crop yield for soybean variety selection," authored by Bhupesh Shetty, Ling Tong and Samuel Burer; "Soy variety selection to maximize yield and minimize risk based on neural network prediction and portfolio theory," authored by Yu Zhao, Jingsi Huang and Ming Qin; "The selection of the best soybean varieties for hedging risk of weather uncertainties — a deep learning and heuristic optimization approach," authored by Mark Rees, Yidong Peng, Jaremy Babila, Mike Lyons, Lily Huang, Yinghan Song, Chun-Yang Wei and Susan Arnot; "Soybean varieties portfolio optimisation based on yield prediction using weighted histograms," authored by Oskar Marko, Sanja Brdar, Marko Panic and Predrag Lugonja; "Decision assist tool for seed variety selection to provide best yield in known soil and uncertain future weather conditions," authored by Nataraju Vusirikala, Mehul Bansal and Prathap Siva; and "Hierarchy modeling of soybean variety yield and decision making for future planting plan," authored by Xiaocheng Li, Hyauyang Zhong, David Lobell and Stefano Ermon.

The finalists will present their models on April 12 at the INFORMS Analytics Conference in Orlando, Florida. The winner will receive $5,000. The second-place presenter will receive $2,500, and the third-place presenter will win $1,000.

“Knowing the world is grappling for new ideas to help alleviate hunger challenges, this competition focuses specifically on using analytics to address that issue,” Joseph Byrum, Syngenta head of soybean seed product development and lead for the Syngenta Crop Challenge committee, said. “Syngenta is excited to see the finalists’ presentations and learn how the teams propose making crops more efficient for farmers across the U.S. and the world. It’s a great opportunity to illustrate the value that analytics brings to increasing efficiency and productivity.”