China’s farming robots are much more than fancy tractors

Much has been made of the AI ​​race between the US and China as two national powers jockey for leadership in the world’s fastest-growing industry. China’s progress in autonomous robotics is a cause for concern for some Western observers. But the nation’s robotics revolution extends far beyond surveillance and military uses, existing at the intersection of increasingly capable computing, manufacturing, and industrialization capabilities. This confluence is perhaps best exemplified by China’s progress in smart agriculture, where engineers are bringing autonomous robots to the country’s crop farming, livestock and aquaculture industries. By developing autonomous robots to help harvest plants and crops, control pests, identify diseases, monitor livestock health and socially engineer fish behavior, China has achieved several major milestones in its robotic farming program.

Beijing highlighted its ambition to promote AI farming in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ National Smart Agriculture Action Plan. In the plan, the government outlined its expectation that by 2026, more than 30% of its agricultural production would be led by information-driven systems. Spearheading this nationwide smart-farming initiative is the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has developed a national strategy to boost breakthroughs in robot-assisted farming across China’s provinces. To accelerate these developments, Beijing has established 34 innovation labs and 35 IT labs dedicated to smart agriculture. As a result, farms across the country have started using LLMs and autonomous robots in their operations. This trend could herald a new global agricultural landscape in which AI advances everything from fighting potato blight to genetically modifying crops.

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Automation is becoming a fixture in Chinese farming

Robotics is playing an increasingly important role in China’s crop management system. In China’s Sichuan province, for example, autonomous robots inspect rice fields using blacklight cameras, funneling data through their built-in AI systems to flag both pests and diseases. On another farm, “smart brain” systems remotely monitor fields to collect data on soil quality, crop health, and environmental trends, enabling predictions on crop growth, yield, and pest outbreaks. A set of WeChat-controlled farming robots can plant seeds, harvest crops and remove weeds.

Some projects have also applied AI-powered robotics to crop breeding, with one team of scientists speeding up crop growth by 400% using the SCMP technique, per SCMP. This process was facilitated by “robot-friendly” crops designed to make it easier for robots to pollinate and harvest. Using these same autonomous robotic systems, some Chinese farms have been able to fully automate their crop cultivation processes.

But the use cases for robotics in Beijing’s agriculture go beyond crops. Muyuan Foods Co., Ltd. A robot developed by uses smart sensors to monitor and analyze animal biometrics. Fisheries are also beginning to develop high-tech autonomous solutions that monitor fish behavior and growth patterns. For example, at the National Innovation Center for Digital Fisheries in Beijing, robotic fish modeled after tuna and dolphins swim through breeding tanks to monitor fish patterns, environmental health and net infrastructure; They achieve this without disturbing their aquatic counterparts. Developers hope these robotic fish can eventually lead schools of fish to designated harvesting and feeding areas, potentially being used for deep-sea exploration.

Advances in Chinese robotics fit into broader economic trends

China’s robotics revolution has made leaps and bounds in data analytics and agricultural machinery. Using data from autonomous robots, drones, and other intelligent farming systems, Chinese engineers may be able to take the guesswork out of irrigation, pest control, and planting schedules. Farmers are beginning to use smart farming to analyze factors that affect crop growth—including temperature, rainfall, soil moisture, and mineral levels—to better define irrigation needs, plan drought responses, and predict maturity. On a farm, autonomous drones collect crop maturity data to produce horticultural maps that can guide harvesting.

With advances in robotics, China is also increasing its domestic machinery production significantly. The nation exported $9.3 billion in agricultural machinery in the first half of 2025 — a 26.5% jump from last year, according to the Global Times. Domestically produced intelligent harvesting technology, including AI-assisted corn harvesters, marks a major shift in an agricultural industry that has historically relied on imported high-end machinery. According to Xinhua’s English-language Seed Technology Report, China’s northwestern Xinjiang region has benefited particularly from these advances, achieving a 97% mechanization rate in its cotton farming practices.

Some experts question the scalability of intelligent automated farming systems, especially in countries with diverse climates, geography and crop production. These variables present significant challenges in building standardized, cost-effective autonomous farming systems—and given the industry’s historically small profit margins, cost is an especially pressing consideration. But with other technological leaps, such as “smart soil” that grows larger crops with less water and insect drones that can pollinate crops, the global agriculture industry may be on the cusp of its next technological revolution.

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