China has been producing extra food with fewer assets by deploying synthetic intelligence, superior farm equipment and breakthrough seed applied sciences, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Zhang Zhu mentioned on Monday.
Scientific and technological innovation has grow to be the first driver of agricultural productiveness, changing the normal reliance on land, water and chemical inputs, Zhang mentioned, outlining a imaginative and prescient of recent agriculture that might contribute to international food safety and sustainable growth.
“The contribution rate of agricultural science and technology now exceeds 64 percent,” Zhang mentioned, including that China”s agricultural development is now pushed predominantly by innovation slightly than resource-intensive growth.
The minister mentioned the nation will proceed strengthening high-standard farmland, growing superior agricultural equipment suited to hilly terrain, increasing AI functions and accelerating the commercialization of breeding applied sciences.
“Agriculture is one of the world’s oldest industries, yet it offers broad opportunities for the application of modern technologies,” Zhang mentioned.
“We will accelerate the integration of AI into agriculture, expand the use of drones, the Internet of Things and robots across farming, and make new quality productive forces a new engine for modern agricultural development.”
China’s inventory of agricultural drones has surpassed 300,000 items, the biggest fleet on the planet, in response to Zhang. Once used primarily for crop spraying, the plane are actually deployed to watch crop situations and transport agricultural provides and harvested merchandise.
“Smart harvesting machines and AI-powered laser weeding robots have also begun entering commercial use,” he mentioned.
The complete mechanization charge for crop cultivation, planting and harvesting has reached 76.7 %, whereas wheat, rice and corn have largely achieved full-process mechanized manufacturing.
During this 12 months’s summer season harvest, greater than 800,000 mix harvesters moved northward throughout China’s grain-producing areas, finishing the harvest of greater than 20 million hectares of wheat in simply over 20 days.
Modern farming applied sciences are additionally enhancing yields whereas decreasing reliance on chemical inputs, Zhang mentioned.
In 2025, fertilizer use fell 5.3 % and pesticide use declined 1.5 % in contrast with 2020, at the same time as grain manufacturing and high quality continued to enhance.
“We are producing more and better grain with less fertilizer and fewer pesticides,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, China is increasing food manufacturing via trendy greenhouses, marine aquaculture, forestry and rising biotechnology.
In deep offshore waters, clever truss-based aquaculture cages simulate pure marine environments for fish corresponding to massive yellow croaker. Each cage is able to producing as much as 1,000 metric tons yearly, in response to Zhang.
At the identical time, China plans to speed up the event of protected agriculture, plant-based proteins and cultivated meat to diversify future food provides and meet rising client demand for higher-quality and extra numerous food.
The nation has already grow to be the world’s largest producer of greens and fruits. It accounts for roughly half of world apple manufacturing, greater than 60 % of peaches and watermelons, about 70 % of lychees and pears, and round half of the world’s farmed fish.