Hohhot is charting a modern path in agriculture, as it seeks to boost rural vitalization and contribute to China's agricultural strength.

At the core of these efforts is the 100-billion-yuan ($13.9 billion) dairy sector, which is experiencing accelerated development thanks to innovation in forage breeding and interconnection with seven major industrial chains covering corn, meat, forage, potatoes, grains and oils, and urban agriculture.

At the Youran Dairy Saikexing Research Institute in Hohhot, scientists are advancing China's first "Breeding No 1 Chip", designed to break foreign dependence in dairy cattle genetics. The chip integrates advanced sequencing and high-throughput detection technologies, enabling precise selection of cattle with desirable traits such as high yield, fertility, disease resistance, and low carbon performance. Already applied to more than 300 cows, it has reached internationally advanced levels of accuracy, making Saikexing the first Chinese enterprise to commercialize high-end bovine genetic testing.

At Inner Mongolia Zhengshi Eco-Agriculture (Group) Co's eighth farm, smart meteorological systems guide alfalfa production, boosting protein content above 20 percent and doubling yields per mu (0.07 hectares). These breakthroughs help overcome challenges in cold-climate overwintering and rainy-season storage.

Led by giants such as Yili and Mengniu groups, Hohhot's complete dairy chain continues to grow stronger in everything from forage planting and cattle breeding to processing and sales. Supported by national innovation centers, the city is fostering a green agri-food cluster of 110 enterprises.