CAAS announces massive overhaul focusing on 'organized scientific research'

China's leading agricultural research body announced a significant institutional overhaul for the year 2026, emphasizing "organized scientific research" and aiming to enhance self-reliance on key technologies, according to an annual work report delivered on Monday.

The agenda was outlined by Huang Sanwen, president of the State-supported Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), as the institution prepares for the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). During this five-year span, CAAS has set ambitious goals, including ensuring that over 60 percent of its disciplines and institutes reach world-class levels by 2030.

Central to the new strategy is the concept of "organized scientific research", a State-coordinated model that seeks to break down barriers between different scientific disciplines and institutes. It aims to pool resources to tackle large-scale, mission-oriented national projects, moving away from fragmented, individual research efforts. Key features include forming large, cross-disciplinary teams for coordinated operations.

Specific structural measures for 2026 include consolidating the academy's research focus to seven new academic divisions, spanning areas from frontier interdisciplinary studies to agricultural economics. Furthermore, CAAS will establish 15 cross-institute "scientific research task forces" to conduct full industrial chain research on national priorities like boosting grain yields. The academy will also expand its regional presence across China through the setup of nine centers to better serve key agricultural production zones.

"Through the reshuffle, we will enhance the efficiency of resource allocation and our capability to address significant challenges," Huang said in the report, noting that the sweeping reforms are a necessary response to a profound paradigm shift in agricultural science worldwide, driven largely by the rapid ascent of artificial intelligence. He warned that the sector is at a "critical stage of paradigm change", where traditional trial-and-error approaches are being displaced by an emerging AI-driven model.

Highlighting global competition, he pointed to advanced AI systems like Google's AlphaFold 3 — which has shown potential for designing crop resistance proteins — and United States AI biology models capable of predicting molecular interactions or generating new proteins.

Huang said the academy must preemptively strengthen its layout in frontier interdisciplinary fields like agricultural AI. This external technological disruption, he suggested, exposes internal shortcomings such as fragmented research efforts and disciplinary silos, making the proposed institutional overhaul necessary.

The 2026 agenda also prioritizes deep integration with industry, strengthening intellectual property management, and accelerating the transfer of technology to farmers and agribusinesses. It calls for building a national-level achievement transfer platform and expanding a program where CAAS researchers serve as part-time executives at leading agricultural enterprises.

The announcement follows reported strong performance in 2025. CAAS scientists published 16 papers in top-tier journals such as Nature, Science and Cell, developed 82 new major crop varieties, and saw its agricultural patent competitiveness index claim the global top spot, according to the report.

The CAAS, which operates under China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, functions as the nation's primary network of public agricultural research institutes. Its new direction underscores China's broader strategic focus on achieving technological sovereignty and upgrading its agricultural sector, which faces constraints including limited arable land and water resources.