Picture this: a gleaming greenhouse straight out of a sci-fi flick, but instead of humans tediously crossing each flower by hand, a sleek robot glides through the rows like a pro gamer on a mission. 🌱🤖
Meet GEAIR, developed by scientists at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in the Chinese mainland. It’s the world’s first robot capable of handling the full breeding process—from identifying flowers to perfecting hybrid pollination.
With AI-powered vision and precision positioning, GEAIR spots a flower, extends its robotic arms, and gently carries out cross-pollination. No more endless hours of repetitive work—this machine shuttles between plants and does it all with near-zero mistakes. 💡
“AI and robots offer vast opportunities in shifting hybrid breeding toward precision agriculture to enhance crop yields, reduce costs and promote sustainable practices,” says Xu Cao, a researcher at IGDB.
Hybrid breeding aims to create supercharged crops with higher yields and better resilience. Traditionally, it’s been a labor-intensive marathon of manual cross-pollination. GEAIR, however, uses next-gen breeding tech like speed-breeding to fast-track customized varieties that meet farmers’ needs.
Powered by cutting-edge AI recognition and robotics, GEAIR can weave through fields, target specific flowers, and complete tasks in a closed-loop cycle. This means more efficient breeding pipelines, happier scientists, and stronger plants in less time.
By integrating biotechnology, AI, and robotics, this breakthrough marks a new era for precision agriculture. The future of farming is here, and it’s smart, sustainable, and seriously cool. 🚜✨
Reference(s):
China develops world's first full-process plant-breeding robot
cgtn.com
