The 33rd China Beijing Seed Industry Conference unfolded in the capital on September 4-5, with this year's event spotlighting the theme of "AI-Empowered Smart Breeding, Digital Intelligence Leading the Seed Industry's Future." For the first time, the conference placed smart breeding at its core, showcasing the latest practical advances in internationalization, intelligent innovation, and market-driven growth across the seed sector. Attendees packed the venue as researchers, industry specialists, and members of the public gathered to explore cutting-edge breakthroughs in the exhibition zone.
The main venue brought together 600 advanced technological achievements from 138 research institutions, seed companies, and technical service providers both at home and abroad. These spanned everything from germplasm resource conservation to new variety cultivation and from breeding data collection to intelligent decision-making. The deep fusion of technology and agriculture has moved beyond concept stage into tangible innovation scenarios, which visitors could experience first-hand.
At the Beijing Bioruidi Biotechnology booth, liquid-phase chips for livestock, poultry, aquatic products, and crops were neatly displayed. Behind these compact chips lie the genetic codes that unlock superior germplasm traits. Nearby, a smart breeding laboratory model glowed with blue light, demonstrating an automated workflow from sample processing and DNA extraction to chip detection and data analysis, drawing a crowd of curious onlookers. Li Ning, head of the company's research institute, explained that this smart laboratory system stems from their proprietary agricultural liquid-phase chip technology, developed through ongoing efforts to enhance automation and engineering efficiency. After multiple iterations, the production line now processes over 5,000 samples per platform daily, with parallel operations achieving an annual detection capacity exceeding 5 million samples, while the testing cycle has been shortened to just 3-5 days.
The physical traits of plants and animals—such as size, disease resistance, and quality—are all rooted in genetics. Gene chips act as sharp "eyes" for breeders, enabling earlier and faster analysis of genetic information, making the breeding process more precise and efficient. "Traditional breeding relied heavily on experience and observable traits. Molecular technology now integrates phenotypic data, genotypic information, and breeding know-how, allowing for scientific screening and precise hybrid design," Li noted. Smart breeding is steadily steering away from the old trial-and-error model that consumed time and resources.
If gene chips serve as the "microscope" for precision breeding, then intelligent breeding platforms construct the "digital brain" for seed innovation. A team at the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences has developed the "Golden Seed Intelligent Breeding Platform" after more than a decade of research. The platform is now a vital resource for several leading domestic seed enterprises, having supported the development of over 400 premium varieties and generating cost savings exceeding 500 million yuan.
The conference's most eye-catching exhibit was the agilely operating intelligent breeding robot. The debut of the humanoid embodied intelligent breeding robot "Jier 2.0" drew repeated applause as its mechanical arm flexed with finesse, precisely targeting flower pistils and performing pollination gently and smoothly. Xu Cao, a researcher at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighted that compared to its 1.0 predecessor, the 2.0 version addresses previous challenges caused by leaf and branch obstruction and flower orientation that hindered pollination and risked pistil damage. Equipped with autonomous recognition cameras, "Jier 2.0" can accurately locate targets, learn independently, and operate around the clock, dramatically improving breeding efficiency while reducing costs.
From the precise decoding of gene chips to the digital empowerment of breeding platforms and the intelligent operation of AI-driven robots, the deep convergence of digital intelligence technology and the seed industry is making breeding work more accurate, efficient, and intelligent than ever before. Empowered by these technological advances, China's seed industry is breaking through barriers at an accelerated pace, nurturing superior varieties with robust capabilities and using smart breeding to cultivate a promising future.
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