Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS)
CATAS is the only Chinese research institution devoted to tropical agricultural technology developments. The academic and technical capability of CATAS has contributed greatly and continuously towards sustainable solutions to hunger, malnutrition and poverty in tropical China and abroad. The mandate of CATAS encompasses the development of the value chain of many tropical crops and plants under 14 institutes[1].
CATAS has achieved a number of scientific and technological innovations and breakthroughs in rubber tree, cassava, tropical forage and tropical fruit for instance, while the scientific research accomplishments are transformed into practical technologies.
It has been involved in China’s South-South Cooperation programme (SSC), in particular with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and provides technical advice and support to the MOA’s international assistance programme, food security, policy and institutional analysis as well as other advisory services throughout the international cooperation process.
[1] namely Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Rubber Research Institute, Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, South Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Product Processing Research Institute, Spice and Beverage Research Institute, Coconut Research Institute, Tropical Agricultural Machinery Research Institute, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, Analysis and Testing Centre, Haikou Experimental Station, Zhanjiang Experimental Station, and Guangzhou Experimental Station. Like other R&D institutions, CATAS is composed of administrative offices and research institutes. There are 13 administrative divisions in CATAS headquarters in Haikou and one liaison office in Beijing. The 13 divisions are the Executive Office, Science and Technology Division, Human Resource Division, Finance Division, the Division of Program and Infrastructure, Asset Division, Postgraduate Division, Division of International Cooperation, the Division of Technology Development and Transfer, the Division of Experimental Base Management, the Office of Inspection and Audit, the Division of Security, and the Secretariat of the Council.
The collaboration between CATAS and FAO is mainly in the scope of research capability development, plant genetic resources collection and conservation, consultancy services, personnel training, technology exchange etc. Thus it has been involved in the identification and recruitment of experts FAO-SSC, participation in the formulation of the SSC projects, coordinating and conducting specific training courses under FAO-China SSC programme, organizing study tours for SSC counterparts, and providing technical supervision for SSC projects.
The CATAS is a registered national non-profit scientific research institution engaged in tropical agriculture and rural development. Under the administration and financing by the Ministry of Agriculture of People’s Republic of China (MoA), CATAS conducts activities on scientific and technical innovation, talents training, international cooperation, technologies transfer and extension services. Thus CATAS is a governmental organization and hence follows the rules and regulations applicable to all governmental institutions.
Professor Wang Qinghuang
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E-mail: [email protected]
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. LIU Guodao
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Tropical crops cultivation and technical assistance and extension of tropical agriculture
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 30 years
LIU Guodao has been the vice president of Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) since 2010, in charge of international cooperation, technical service and training for farmers, experimental base management, with rich experience in technical assistance and extension of tropical agriculture for developing countries. He holds PhD degree on tropical crops cultivation, and is a professor and a doctoral supervisor on tropical forage. He also serves as vice president of Chinese Grassland Society. In recent years, he has presided over 15 research programs, obtained 27 provincial and ministerial level awards, bred 24 species, published more than 300 papers and over 20 books.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. JIANG Changshun
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Tropical plant breeding and tropical agriculture S&T international cooperation
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 25 years
Jiang Changshun is a professor in tropical plant breeding and tropical agriculture S&T international cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) under the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the director of International Cooperation Division of CATAS. In addition, he is a supervisor for master and PhD students of Hainan University of China. His research interests include tropical forage breeding and molecular biology, the role of tropical forage in tropical crops production system and forage seed production. He has received 15 research grants including 5 from National Natural Science Foundation of China, bred 5 varieties of tropical forage, obtained 9 awards of S&T Progress in ministerial and provincial levels, and published 5 books and over 65 articles. And he has organized 53 international training courses for more than 1500 participants for 90 countries. He was awarded as one of 100 Precursors Introducing Foreign Intelligence to China by State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of P.R. China in 2008.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. HUANG Huasun
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Rubber tree breeding
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 31
HUANG Huasun, Professor and PhD supervisor, joined Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) in 1984, now is the director of Rubber Research Institute, CATAS and Chief Scientist of Rubber Research System. Prof. Huang has been involved in research on genetics and breeding and germplsm of rubber tree for about 30 years. He has undertaken many national and ministerial research projects. One clone listed under Class 1 of planting recommendation (recommended for planting on large scale) and four clones under Class 2 were bred and selected by his team. These clones have made a great contribution to development of the rubber tree industry. The achievements in his research enable him to win many awards and honours in science and technology.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. LI Kaimian
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Cassava germplasm resources and genetic breeding
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 28 years
Li Kaimian, professor of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, researches on cassava germplasm resources and genetic breeding. He has a solid background in cassava germplsm resource conservation, evaluation and utilization. He focused on a combination of cassava traditional breeding and molecular breeding, and developed a Cassava Integrated-Breeding theory for increasing efficiency of cassava breeding, published more than 60 academic papers and 4 monographs. Because of his research achievements in cassava, he was appointed as a Chief Scientist of Chinese Cassava Agro-technology Research system by Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. In recently years, he has presided over more than 20 national and provincial key projects, and contributed to the breeding of 11 cassava varieties named South China Series. He gained 11 National and provincial-level awards, among which “Cassava Breeding and industrial R&D Integration and Application of Key Technologies” won the second prize of the National Scientific and Technological Progress.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. JIN Zhiqiang
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Banana genetic breeding
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 22 years
JIN Zhiqiang joined the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences (CATAS) in 1993. Dr. Jin has a strong leadership, as well as a solid background in genetic breeding. His main research areas include functional genomics of tropical fruit, postharvest ripening and senescence molecular biology and the use of bio-technology for improving the quality of tropical fruits and cultivation of new varieties. Dr. Jin Currently works as a key scientist of the National Banana Industry Technology System of Chain, and a leading expert of Banana Industry Technology System of CATAS. He has obtained a number of functional genes with independent intellectual property rights, providing available genetic resources for genetic improvement of bananas. His research results has established techniques to improve banana preservation technology and resistance by the important banana gene regulation, which provided important technical support and theoretical basis for banana seed breeding, cultivation, pest control, post-harvest preservation and other modern production technology.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. PENG Ming
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Molecular biology and functional genomics of cassava
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 21 years
PENG Ming, professor of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, has a solid background in molecular biology, with emphasis on genetic engineering of tropical plants and microorganisms, by functional genomics, transgenic and molecular breeding. He is mainly interested in: 1. Improving stress tolerance and increasing yield of cassava by functional genomics, transgenic and molecular breeding approaches. 2. Pathogenic mechanism and integrated control of banana Fusarium wilt disease. 3. Diversity and utilization of tropical bio-resources. He holds a PhD in molecular genetics and molecular biology from Auburn University and did a post-doctoral training at the University of Texas from 1993 to 1994 in USA. After training, he joined Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Dept. of Food Science at Louisiana State University. Then, he did his research at Washington University at St. Louis. Thereafter, he worked for Monsanto Company of USA, before going to the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in 2004.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. PENG Zheng
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Processing and functional modification of natural rubber
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 9 years
PENG Zheng is a doctoral supervisor and Director of the Agricultural Product Processing Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences. He is specialized in research on high performance nanocomposites processing and functional modification of natural rubber. His research interests include tropical agricultural product processing, bio-degradable starch based composites, natural rubber based nanocomposites and nano-celluloses. He achieved his PhD at the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Research, of the University of South Australia and worked as research fellow at the Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Australia.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. YI Kexian
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Fungal pathogens of tropical crops and genetic breeding
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 21 years
YI Kexian has been researching on the fungal pathogens of tropical crops and genetic breeding for many years. His main researches include biology and genetic diversity of sisal, sisal regeneration by tissue culture and gene transformation for disease resistant breeding, cellulose degradation of King Grass for ethanol for biofuel, multi-purpose uses of sisal by-product. Presently, he is the director of the Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences; the director of the Key Laboratory of Pests Comprehensive Governance for Tropical Crops, Ministry of Agriculture; the director of the Hainan Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Control of Tropical Agricultural Pests; the member of Chinese Tropical Crop Society; and the chairman of the Plant Pathogen Society in Hainan Province. He has been in CIAT, CRCTPP, University of Queensland in Australia, IRRI, and ICRISAT for learning and doing research as senior visiting scholar.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Dr. DUAN Cuifang
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Genomics research of rubber tree
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 13 years
DUAN Cuifang, associate professor & master student supervisor, with a PhD. degree awarded in Montpellier UMII&Sup Agro in France, major in molecular biology. In the period of 2002-2014, she worked as a genomics research group leader in the rubber research institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS). Presently, she is serving as the Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Division in CATAS. She has been engaged in researches on Hevea physiological metabolism and molecular regulation, successively presided and participated in over 20 provincial and ministerial level scientific research projects, published 40 papers, obtained the authorization of 4 invention and utility model patents, compiled a book and invented a ultrasonic instruments suitable for rubber plantations to improve the productivity of rubber trees. She can speak fluent English and French, having some experience in international cooperation: from 2007-2012, she studied 4 years in Montpelier University II & Montpellier SupAgro in France, and won the outstanding Ph.D. diploma.
TITLE & FULL NAME: Prof. & Dr. YANG Yaodong
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Coconut and oil palm molecular biology
NO. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 14 years
YANG Yaodong holds a PhD in Plant cell and molecular biology from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and joined the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) in 2010, researching on coconut and oil palm molecular biology. He is also the head of the Biotechnology Division of Coconut Research Institute of CATAS. He worked as a postdoc researcher in Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Delaware Biotechnology Institute (USA) for 5 years. He has a solid background in molecular biology with research focus on cold-responsive and adaptation of tropical oil crops, and fat acid synthesis and metabolism regulation. A keen interest in molecular markers development, functional gene and trait analysis for tropical oil crops, important agronomic trait QTL association analysis and positioning for tropical oil crops. In recent years, more than 16 SCI indexed papers have been published on top journals like The Plant Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Current Biology.