“In the past, we relied entirely on experience to determine the flowering period of crops. Fertilizers were applied by instinct, and we often reacted too late to disease outbreaks,“ Zhang said. “Now, solutions provided by AI help us tackle these challenges immediately and accurately.“

　　Fueled by a surging demand, AI in agriculture has expanded rapidly. In 2021, China's “AI plus Agriculture“ market was valued at approximately 68.5 billion yuan (about 9.55 billion U.S. dollars). That figure is projected to exceed 90 billion yuan by 2024, marking an average annual compound growth rate of around 10 percent, according to the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, a Chinese think tank.

　　While still in the early stages, experts are optimistic about AI's future in agriculture. “AI holds great potential in precision farming, pest identification and control, automated agricultural machinery, and supply chain optimization,“ said Li Zhan, a professor at Southwest Jiaotong University.

　　Li noted that domestic AI technologies like DeepSeek will significantly enhance agricultural production efficiency, resource management accuracy, and product quality safety, driving the intelligent and sustainable development of agriculture.

　　However, challenges still remain. Issues such as inconsistent data collection, privacy concerns, and limited farmer adoption continue to curtail the full potential of AI in this field.

　　More efforts are needed to strengthen infrastructure in rural areas to lower the barriers to AI access, said Liu Jingjing, a researcher at a research center under China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

　　Liu stressed that it is vital to cultivate more AI talents to facilitate the integration of new technologies into agricultural practices.