How to become a Soil Scientist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 土壤肥料技术人员

Assesses soil quality, builds up soil fertility and improves soils, and researches and promotes efficient use of fertiliser.

Main tasks

• Surveying changes in soil properties and classifying, planning and mapping soils
• Analysing physical, chemical and biological soil indicators, assessing soil quality and identifying the main problems
• Analysing how soil conditioners and the practices that go with them change soil quality, and suggesting improvements
• Researching and applying fertiliser recipes and application methods for crops
• Developing efficient fertilising and the machinery that goes with it, and promoting their use
• Analysing how fertilising methods and the practices that go with them change soil quality, and suggesting ways to build fertility
• Developing new fertilisers and soil conditioners, testing product composition and registering products

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); 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.
• Vocational majors: Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Agricultural Biotechnology (270103). Vocational major 270103 Agricultural Biotechnology (农业生物技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥53,400 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥39,300 to CN¥73,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥29,400 and one in ten more than CN¥108,400.
• This is the figure for the mid group Agricultural Technical Personnel, not for this job alone.
• National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
• Guangzhou only: median CN¥77,234 a year (2025), middle half CN¥58,190 to CN¥113,237.
• This is the figure for the mid group Agricultural Technical Personnel, not for this job alone.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Agricultural Technical Personnel holds 0.08% of everyone employed in China; 30.6% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 25.8% are under 35, 52.6% are 35 to 54 and 21.6% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 45 to 49.
• 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 a Soil Scientist?

Ways in include: Agriculture & Environment degrees; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Agricultural Biotechnology (270103).

How much does a Soil Scientist earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥53,400 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Agricultural Technical Personnel. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥77,234 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Soil Scientist?

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

Sources

• Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
• 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 5 October 2026