The 2025 Annual Summary Meeting for the Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program (Agricultural Superior Varieties Project)—“Research and Development and Application of Intelligent Crop Breeding Equipment”—was held successfully.

To comprehensively summarize the 2025 implementation results of the Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program (Agricultural Superior Varieties Project) project “Research and Development and Application of Intelligent Crop Breeding Equipment” (Project No.: 2024LZGC004), and to pool multidisciplinary expertise in order to promote the project’s high-quality advancement, the annual summary meeting for this project was successfully held on December 13 in Conference Room 216 of the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Qingdao Agricultural University. Leaders, experts, and core research personnel from the project’s guiding expert panel and from the various sub-project implementing units gathered to discuss the project’s progress.

The meeting was chaired by Li Guoying, the project’s administrative director and deputy general manager of Qingdao Planteck Mechanical Technology Co., Ltd. In his address, Lü Yuting, Party Secretary of the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Qingdao Agricultural University, emphasized that the smooth advancement of the research and development and application project for intelligent crop breeding equipment is of great significance in driving the transformation of breeding equipment toward intelligence, precision, and high efficiency. This initiative will inject new momentum into scientific and technological innovation in the seed industry in Shandong Province and across the country, while providing robust technological support for agricultural modernization. He outlined three expectations for the project’s implementation: steadfastly pursuing innovation-driven development to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies; strengthening collaborative partnerships to create synergistic innovation; and prioritizing the commercialization of research outcomes to serve industrial development.

At the meeting, Deputy Director Li Guoying began by presenting a comprehensive report on the project’s annual progress, covering the completion of annual tasks, key advances and outcomes, financial execution, and the plan for the next phase of implementation. Subsequently, each project-leading institution delivered a briefing on its respective research progress: Li Guoliang, Senior Engineer at Qingdao Planteck Mechanical Technology Co., Ltd., presented on the research and application of intelligent seeding equipment for wheat breeding plot trials and intelligent harvesting equipment for soybean breeding plot trials; Dr. Li Jiang from Qingdao Agricultural University outlined the research findings and future plans for the development and application of intelligent harvesting equipment for wheat breeding plot trials; Gao Zenghui, Director of the Yellow River Delta Institute of Intelligent Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Industry, reported on the interim achievements in the research and development of intelligent harvesting technologies and equipment for soybean breeding plot trials; and Zhu Junkuo, Chairman of Zibo Hefeng Seed Industry Technology Co., Ltd., provided a detailed account of team building, the existing research foundation, and the follow-up arrangements for the project on the integration and demonstration of machinery–cultivation synergy in wheat and soybean breeding plot trials.

During the expert guidance session, chaired by Chen Chuanqiang, Secretary-General of the Shandong Society of Agricultural Engineering, the participating experts put forward targeted opinions and recommendations on aspects such as project technology R&D, achievement transformation, and fund utilization. Li Jiandong, a researcher at the China Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences Group Co., Ltd., proposed improvement directions for technical issues including the development of yield-measurement devices for soybean harvesters, standards for high feed rates in plot-scale harvesters, and seed-distribution uniformity in wheat strip-sowing machines, suggesting that equipment performance could be optimized by adding screening meshes and adopting four-wheel steering. Liu Shuguang, an associate professor at the Yantai Research Institute of China Agricultural University, commended the outstanding achievement of all sub-projects in exceeding their annual performance targets, with particular emphasis on the demonstration of intelligent applications at demonstration bases. In response, Deputy General Manager Li Guoying stated that they are actively advancing intelligent functions such as sowing blockage monitoring, adaptive harvesting adjustments, and the creation of Beidou-based operation-planning maps. Secretary-General Chen Chuanqiang emphasized that the project should focus on harvest quality and efficiency, highlight breakthroughs in core technologies, standardize testing methods and patent applications, and place greater emphasis on showcasing the distinctive features and highlights of the outcomes. Meanwhile, Li Ming, General Manager of Unite Zhenqing Certified Public Accountants, provided professional guidance on financial matters—including progress in fund execution, compliance of expenditure vouchers, and avoidance of conflicts of interest with affiliated enterprises—to ensure that special funds are used in a compliant and efficient manner.

Shang Shuqi, Director of the Academic Committee of Qingdao Agricultural University, delivered a concluding address. He commended the overall progress of the project in 2025, while emphasizing that each sub-project should further refine the annual quantitative technical assessment indicator comparison table, highlight the depth and distinctive highlights of the technical research in their reports, and clearly articulate the theoretical approaches and technical pathways.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Vice President Li Guoying stated that this summary session has charted the course for the project’s subsequent advancement. The project team will carefully review the experts’ recommendations, refine the technical plan, strengthen collaborative efforts, accelerate the commercialization of research outcomes, and ensure the successful completion of all project tasks, thereby making a greater contribution to the intelligent upgrading of China’s seed industry equipment and to the high-quality development of agriculture.