Huazhong Agricultural University held its 2026 "Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Plus" interdisciplinary forum on May 12, focusing on training talent at the intersection of AI, agriculture, and life sciences, while supporting new agricultural sciences.
The forum, held at the Student Comprehensive Service Building, reviewed the progress of HZAU's "Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Plus" talent training program and provided a platform for students and mentors to connect on frontier research directions and opportunities for growth. Vice-President Li Dapeng attended and spoke at the event.
Li said AI is reshaping many fields, and using AI to drive agricultural transformation is both challenging and full of potential. He encouraged students to view agriculture as a fundamental issue for human civilization and to focus on solving long-term questions related to food, health, and sustainable survival.
Ren Zhuqing, head of the training division of the Graduate School, said the program, launched in 2025, has developed a new training model that includes integrated undergraduate-doctoral cultivation, 1+1+N interdisciplinary mentor groups, project-driven learning, AI project-based experimental teaching, and coordinated curriculum and textbook development.
At the forum, 10 student representatives from the first group of direct master-doctoral candidates presented progress in smart planting, livestock and poultry health monitoring, precision aquaculture, and agricultural big data analysis. Twelve mentor-group representatives introduced research in intelligent crop root phenotyping, embodied-intelligence breeding robots, AI-assisted vaccine development, and corn nitrogen transport.

Participants exchange ideas at HZAU's 2026 "Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Plus" interdisciplinary forum. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]