How to become an Agricultural Scientist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 农业科学研究人员

Studies the natural and economic laws that agricultural development follows.

Main tasks

• Researching crop physiology, cultivation and breeding, soils and fertilisers, plant protection and farming systems
• Researching livestock, poultry and aquaculture, introducing and breeding improved stock, disease prevention and control, and feed formulation and production
• Researching the storage, processing and use of farm, forestry, livestock and fishery products
• Developing and improving machinery for farming, forestry, livestock and fisheries
• Researching water saving irrigation of farmland
• Researching how to combat sand encroachment and desertification, and the integrated development of mountain, sandy and wetland areas
• Researching the theory and techniques of animal husbandry and veterinary science
• Researching farm ecology, environmental protection and the development and use of rural energy
• Researching the protection and use of plant and animal breeds and genetic resources in farming, forestry, livestock and fisheries
• Researching zoning, resource surveys, planning and design, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainable development in farming, forestry, livestock and fisheries
• Researching the management of science and technology, agricultural and forestry economics, and farm business management

Ways in

• University: Agriculture & Environment degrees, Offered by 83 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Plant Production (0901); Animal Production (0903); Forestry (0905); Fisheries (0906); majors such as Agronomy, Horticulture, Plant Protection, Plant Science and Technology, Seed Science and Engineering, Protected Agriculture Science and Engineering. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in Guangzhou: CN¥97,997 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥63,873 to CN¥149,392. One in ten earn less than CN¥51,750 and one in ten more than CN¥210,000.
• This is the figure for the mid group Scientific Researchers, not for this job alone.
• Guangzhou only, not a national figure: wage prices of enterprise employees in the city. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Scientific Researchers holds 0.07% of everyone employed in China; 41.6% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 48.6% are under 35, 44.1% are 35 to 54 and 7.4% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

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Questions people ask

How do I become an Agricultural Scientist?

Ways in include: Agriculture & Environment degrees.

How much does an Agricultural Scientist earn in China?

In Guangzhou, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥97,997 a year (Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025). This is a Guangzhou figure, not a national one. It is the figure for the mid group Scientific Researchers.

Will AI change the work of an Agricultural Scientist?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 4 October 2026