AI drives agriculture toward high-quality development

A worker picks tomatoes at a high-standard vegetable growing demonstration center in Ruichang city, east China's Jiangxi Province, Dec. 19, 2024. (Photo/Wei Dongsheng)

Efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into agriculture have gained momentum in recent years, opening up new opportunities as large AI models continue to advance. But how effective are these innovations?

In northeast China's Jilin Province, a robot glides through cornfields in Gongzhuling city, capturing clear, precise images. The footage, shared by Chen Jian, a professor at China Agricultural University, demonstrates how AI is reshaping farming practices.

"In the past, developing new crop varieties required breeders to spend years observing and experimenting in the field, which was exhausting and time-consuming," Chen said.

A drone and sprayers work together in a wheat field in Laixi city, a county-level city administered by Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, March 16, 2025. (Photo/Zhang Jingang)

Chen and his team now use robots to observe and analyze crops, conducting preliminary screenings to identify plants with traits such as high yields or resistance to disease. Promising candidates are then sent for further testing.

"The robot assumes tedious, low-skill tasks that breeders once handled," Chen said. Thanks to AI, the intelligent breeding robot doesn't just follow commands — it can reason and make connections much like a human.

A single robot can inspect 2.5 mu (about 0.17 hectares) of farmland per hour. With hundreds or even thousands of robots working at the same time, productivity increases sharply. The initial screening also reduces the number of plants needing lab testing, speeding up breeding cycles, Chen said.

"We hope to use AI to accelerate breeding so that crops like wheat and corn can thrive in harsh environments such as plateaus, deserts and saline-alkali soil," Chen said.

An inspection robot patrols a smart agriculture park in north China's Tianjin Municipality, March 21, 2025. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Beyond breeding, AI has brought significant changes to farmers. In Hezhuang village, Maoshan town, Zhenjiang, east China's Jiangsu Province, Xia Hongyu, general manager of Jurong Chuntian Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd., operates an unmanned farm.

In the past, machinery required manual route mapping, according to Xia. "Now, with high-precision positioning through Beidou and 5G integration, combined with AI algorithms, machinery can plan routes and avoid obstacles autonomously," Xia said.

For pest control and weeding, AI can quickly assess crop growth and pest infestations using image recognition from video feeds and photos — often with greater speed and accuracy than humans.

Agricultural drones are a prime example. Most commercial drones now come equipped with AI capabilities, handling tasks such as spraying pesticides, fertilizing, seeding, transporting and monitoring disaster areas. According to Han Jun, China's minister of agriculture and rural affairs, more than 200,000 agricultural drones operate in the country, covering over 400 million mu of farmland.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Tencent have launched a plan to promote AI in rural areas. Over three years, they will provide free training to key personnel in rural governance and heads of new agricultural businesses.

AI is also advancing in areas like processing, warehousing, logistics and digital marketing. In Lingshan county, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region — the second-largest lychee producer in China — challenges in preservation, logistics and sales channels had limited the reputation of local lychees, reducing farmers' profits.

AI has helped address these issues. Post-harvest, AI image recognition technology grades lychees by size and color, assigning them to different sales channels to maximize profits. AI algorithms quickly match orders with inventory, ensuring consumers receive fresh lychees.