Scientific innovation aids food cultivation

China has been producing more food with fewer resources by deploying artificial intelligence, advanced farm machinery and breakthrough seed technologies, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Zhang Zhu said on Monday.

Scientific and technological innovation has become the primary driver of agricultural productivity, replacing the traditional reliance on land, water and chemical inputs, Zhang said, outlining a vision of modern agriculture that could contribute to global food security and sustainable development.

"The contribution rate of agricultural science and technology now exceeds 64 percent," Zhang said, adding that China's agricultural growth is now driven predominantly by innovation rather than resource-intensive expansion.

The minister said the country will continue strengthening high-standard farmland, developing advanced agricultural machinery suited to hilly terrain, expanding AI applications and accelerating the commercialization of breeding technologies.

"Agriculture is one of the world's oldest industries, yet it offers broad opportunities for the application of modern technologies," Zhang said.

"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 stock of agricultural drones has surpassed 300,000 units, the largest fleet in the world, according to Zhang. Once used mainly for crop spraying, the aircraft are now deployed to monitor crop conditions and transport agricultural supplies and harvested products.

"Smart harvesting machines and AI-powered laser weeding robots have also begun entering commercial use," he said.

The comprehensive mechanization rate for crop cultivation, planting and harvesting has reached 76.7 percent, while wheat, rice and corn have largely achieved full-process mechanized production.

During this year's summer harvest, more than 800,000 combine harvesters moved northward across China's grain-producing regions, completing the harvest of more than 20 million hectares of wheat in just over 20 days.

Modern farming technologies are also improving yields while reducing reliance on chemical inputs, Zhang said.

In 2025, fertilizer use fell 5.3 percent and pesticide use declined 1.5 percent compared with 2020, even as grain production and quality continued to improve.

"We are producing more and better grain with less fertilizer and fewer pesticides," he said.

Meanwhile, China is expanding food production through modern greenhouses, marine aquaculture, forestry and emerging biotechnology.

In deep offshore waters, intelligent truss-based aquaculture cages simulate natural marine environments for fish such as large yellow croaker. Each cage is capable of producing up to 1,000 metric tons annually, according to Zhang.

At the same time, China plans to accelerate the development of protected agriculture, plant-based proteins and cultivated meat to diversify future food supplies and meet rising consumer demand for higher-quality and more diverse food.

The country has already become the world's largest producer of vegetables and fruits. It accounts for roughly half of global apple production, more than 60 percent of peaches and watermelons, about 70 percent of lychees and pears, and around half of the world's farmed fish.