China unveils advanced agricultural robot for pollination and breeding

On September 4, 2026, China introduced an upgraded version of the intelligent breeding robot 'Ji Er,' capable of autonomous pollination and phenotyping. The robot, equipped with advanced capabilities, can identify, locate, and pollinate flower stamens while collecting phenotypic data. During a demonstration, the robot performed a pollination task on tomato flowers in under 10 seconds, using a specialized tool to apply pollen to the stamen. The development of 'Ji Er' was led by Dr. Xu Cao from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team combined biotechnology with AI to create a robot that can operate on modified crops with exposed stamens, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This innovation was first announced in August 2025, with the results published in the journal 'Cell'.