The National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture (NERCITA) was established in 2001 with the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. As a national research institution, it mainly engages in research and development of agricultural and rural informatization engineering technology. It has built precision agricultural production system, agricultural Internet of Things system, and agricultural artificial intelligence technology system, which leads the future development of agricultural informatization, and provides strong technical support for agricultural and rural modernization and rural revitalization in China.

Based on the requirements of agricultural and rural development of China, the major mission of NERCITA is to make key technology innovation, establish technical platform and develop significant products for agriculture, which focus on five aspects: intelligent information processing technology, remote sensing and geographic information system, precision agriculture , biological environment control engineering and automation technology as well as fast detection techniques of agricultural product security and logistics.

Lead by academician Zhao Chunjiang, the center has a high-level scientific research team of more than 300 people and covering 24 disciplines. It is the largest agricultural informatization research team in the country. As a demonstration base for the cultivation of innovative talents of the Ministry of Science and Technology, it cultivates more than 100 masters, doctors and postdoctoral fellows every year. The center has undertaken more than 740 national, provincial and ministerial projects, obtained more than 400 invention patents (including 3 PCT), published more than 600 SCI papers and more than 1,000 EI papers. It has won the World Information Summit Award (2003), 6 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, and more than 80 provincial and ministerial awards. The center has established 116 demonstration bases and long-term connections across the country. The products have been widely used in more than 2,000 agricultural enterprises, cooperatives, parks and bases in 30 provinces and cities across the country. Some scientific and technological achievements have also been extended to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, and annual industrialization income is approximately 150-200 million yuan.