A team led by Professor Daoliang Li, Chair of IFIP Working Group 5.14, won the gold medal at the Geneva International Invention Review Days (formerly Geneva International Invention Exhibition) in March.

Judged through an online review process, the winning project was entitled “The key technologies and smart equipment for precision measurement and control of industrialized aquaponics system (Smart Aquaponics)”.

The Daoliang team has long been dedicated to research, teaching, and industrial application of agricultural intelligent information processing and agricultural rural informatization. The aquaponics model has become a very integrated solution to human sustainable development challenges because of its remarkable water conservation, ecological cycle, and high efficiency. However, the aquaponics system is diverse, complex, coupled, and extremely difficult to accurately measure and control.

After nearly 10 years of research supported by the European Union and the National Key Research and Development Program, this project has broken through the technology of accurate sensing of water quality, nutrition, fish and vegetable growth, and other key parameters of the factory aquaponics system.

It built the model of optimal growth and synergistic control of fish and vegetable and the model of multi-energy complementation and optimal regulation of energy consumption, developed intelligent equipment for dynamic balance of fish and vegetable circulating water control, accurate feeding, and fish and vegetable nutrition allocation, developed a cloud control platform of the factory aquaponics system, broke through the efficient production of 100 tons of fish and 160 tons of vegetables per year in 5000 square meters, and carried out the promotion and application in twelve provinces and cities in China.

It also won the Gold Award of the China Invention Association 2020 Invention and was selected as the National Digital Countryside New Technology Application Model. This project achieves resource intensification, waste recycling, carbon and nitrogen reduction, high yield and efficiency, recycling and green development, and can also be used in military applications such as moon landing module, submarine, and island.

It has been demonstrated and landed in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Great Bay Area, and major development strategies of rural revitalization, and will be exported to Rwanda and other Belt and Road countries, which have significant social benefits and international impact.