The Syngenta Crop Challenge was unveiled this week at the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting; the competition encourages participants to develop a model that will aid farmers in predicting what they should plant next season to maximize yield. Data will be provided for weather, soil properties, and seed variety tests to develop the unique models.

Farmers have to make the tough decisions each year about which crops will be planted with a number of uncertainties outside of their control. This competition asks the critical question of how a farmer can make seed variety decisions that optimally reduce risk and increase yield.

“Bringing plant potential to life is our purpose at Syngenta. We strive to continually bring new technologies and innovations to the market to help keep farmers at the top of their game. Extending our work through this challenge will help us broaden our reach and scope of ideas even more,” says Joe Byrum, Syngenta head of soybean seeds product development and lead for the Syngenta Crop Challenge. “We’re excited to see the ideas generated through this competition.”

Syngenta, a leading innovator in plant genetics, and the Analytics Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) are proud to sponsor the Syngenta Crop Challenge. Knowing the world is grappling for new ideas to help alleviate hunger challenges, this new, joint competition focuses specifically on using analytics to address the problem.

The winner of the competition will receive a $5,000 prize. The runner-up will receive $2,500, and the third place winner will receive $1,000. Entries must be submitted by January 15 2016, and finalists will be announced in February 26, 2016.

Syngenta, an award winning company for its innovation in plant analytics, is proud to sponsor this competition to fuel the next big innovations in applying advanced analytics to biochemistry and agriculture.