China designs GEAIR, which is the first one-process breeding robot that is a combination of AI and robotics to innovate precision agriculture and hybrid crop growers.

Chinese scientists introduced the GEAIR, the first robot in the world capable of full-process breeding and a forerunner of agricultural robotics. A product of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology along with other research institutes created GEAIR, a fusion of biotech, bio-artificial intelligence, and robotics, allowing them to expand the world of hybrid breeding.

In Cell, the study provides details on how GEAIR transforms breeding into precision agriculture and bases it on experience. The robot is working inside greenhouses in visual recognition of flowers, expanding its robotic arms and also pollinating by hybrid hand with delicacy. It is highly accurate and efficient in zig-zagging between crops, carrying out redundant cross-pollinating tasks.

According to researchers, robotics in agriculture can improve crop production, reduce expenses, and improve sustainability in farming. In contrast to the time-consuming, labor-intensive breeding, GEAIR employs novel high-tech methods, such as speed breeding, to create great crop varieties through accelerated breeding.

An IGDB researcher, Xu Cao emphasized the importance of introducing AI and robotics in precision agriculture, terming it a closed-loop technology system, or simply intelligent hybrid breeding.

Through this innovation, China is gaining a competitive advantage in the field of agricultural robotics and is likely to start revolutionizing crop cultivation methods all across the globe.