China Unveils New Humanoid Robot GEAIR 2.0 to Automate Crop Pollination

A new humanoid robot designed to support crop breeding was unveiled in Beijing, highlighting the growing application of embodied AI in agriculture. GEAIR 2.0 was showcased at the 33rd China Beijing Seed Industry Conference as a system capable of autonomously performing hybrid pollination tasks. Developed by a team from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the robot is designed to operate in complex crop environments without the need for continuous human control. Its developers claim that the upgraded system has improved the robot's ability to work among leaves and branches while enhancing the accuracy of flower recognition.

Technical Features of GEAIR 2.0

GEAIR 2.0 combines robotics, AI, and biotechnology to automate hybrid pollination, a labor-intensive step in the breeding process. This humanoid robot can identify flowers, navigate around plants, and perform pollination autonomously, allowing it to work for extended periods without continuous human supervision. The upgraded robot uses two arms instead of the previous flexible single-arm system, enabling it to move more effectively among leaves and branches and adapt to the changing environment within the crop. The accuracy of stamen recognition has increased from 85% to 92.8%. At the Beijing launch event, GEAIR 2.0 demonstrated the tomato pollination process, using one hand to hold the pollen tube and the other to operate the pollination brush. The robot takes less than 10 seconds for each pollination, and a single brush dipped in pollen can support about 50 pollinations. The system's name refers to the combination of gene editing and AI-based robotics. Researchers create male-sterile plants through gene editing, exposing the stamens, making it easier for the robot to identify and access these reproductive structures. This approach, described as "crop-robot co-design," was detailed in a 2025 study published in the journal Cell. The researchers found that automated tomato cross-pollination could achieve efficiency comparable to manual methods and later extended the approach to soybeans. The developers stated that automated pollination helps reduce the need for manual labor, lower breeding costs, and improve the efficiency of hybrid breeding.

Advantages of Automated Pollination

The robot is also capable of performing repetitive tasks under different environmental conditions, potentially aiding large-scale crop breeding operations. In this process, researchers first modify the plants to expose the stamens, eliminating the need for workers to manually open the petals, making it easier for the robot to access the reproductive structures. The robot must then navigate through the dense crop, avoiding branches and leaves, and accurately locate the needle-like stamens to complete pollination. This enables it to perform repetitive breeding tasks for extended periods under varying daylight and changing weather conditions. According to a report in the Global Times, experts believe that hybrid pollination is physically demanding and must typically be completed within a narrow time window. The robot allows farmers to manage the process while reducing the required manual labor. Researchers describe this approach as the integration of biotechnology and AI, aiming to make crop breeding more efficient and reduce reliance on intensive manual work. This technology could help lower breeding costs while increasing productivity, supporting the development of large-scale hybrid crops. Promoting AI-driven breeding is also part of China's broader efforts to modernize agriculture and enhance food production. China's grain output reached a record high of 715 million tons in 2025, and the country plans to increase its comprehensive grain production capacity to about 725 million tons by 2030. Technologies like embodied AI may play a role in achieving these goals.

Impact of Automated Pollination on Agriculture

The launch of GEAIR 2.0 marks a significant advancement in agricultural automation, particularly in the labor-intensive process of hybrid pollination. By combining robotics with gene editing, this robot not only improves the accuracy of pollination but can also work for extended periods in varying environments, significantly reducing reliance on human labor. The application of this technology helps increase the efficiency of crop breeding and lower costs, supporting China's long-term goals for food production and further driving agricultural modernization.