Experts Tell House Subcommittee AI Is Accelerating Agrochemical Discovery, But Data, Funding And Regulatory Bottlenecks Remain

At a hearing of the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on the Environment titled "Innovations in Agrochemicals, AI's Hidden Formula for Driving Efficiency," witnesses from industry and land‑grant universities described concrete ways artificial intelligence is changing discovery, manufacturing and field application of pesticides and fungicides.

The panel heard that AI can compress discovery timelines, help manufacturers optimize production and generate site‑specific treatment maps that could sharply reduce chemical use. Committee members and witnesses urged continued federal support for public datasets and for research partnerships so AI outputs have reliable inputs and can be validated before field deployment.

Brian Lutz, vice president of agricultural solutions at Corteva Agriscience, told the subcommittee that AI is changing discovery by allowing researchers to move from randomness to prediction and design. "AI has revolutionized discovery by allowing us to trade randomness and chance for prediction, specificity, and design," Lutz said, describing work in which models analyzed roughly 10,000 molecules in weeks and flagged dozens of candidates his team would…