Project bridging Tropical Agricultural Science and Technology "going out"

Recently, Peng Zhengqiang, an expert on exotic pest control at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, is very busy. The Maldives coconut leaf beetle natural enemy factory and insect culture room are about to be built. As the project leader, he is stepping up efforts to prepare the necessary materials for factory construction.

Since last year, the "national tree" coconut tree of the Maldives has been invaded by the insect pest, coconut leaf beetle, which not only seriously reduces production, but also threatens the ecosystem of tropical islands in the Maldives. Maldives urgently asks our government for help. With the support of the foreign aid project of the "China-Maldives Joint Coconut Pest Research Center", in March this year, researcher Peng Zhengqiang led the research team members to carry 1.5 million coconut leaf beetle natural enemy parasitoids and much-needed medicine to the Maldives to kill coconut leaf beetles with the world's advanced technology.

In recent years, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has seized the opportunity of strategic cooperation between China and ASEAN, Africa, South America, and the South Pacific region to give full play to its advantage of having a reserve of more than 1000 tropical agricultural scientific and technological achievements, using the project as a bridge. the seeds of science and technology have been sown in more than 90 countries, and these scientific and technological seeds have not only taken root and sprouted locally, but also borne fruitful fruits.

The project of China-aided Congo (Brazzaville) Agricultural Technology demonstration Center, built by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, is a living business card for tropical agricultural science and technology to Africa. The project was launched in 2008, and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences sent more than 40 experts in the past six years from site selection to the completion and commissioning of the center to carry out experiments and demonstrations on the cultivation of vegetables, cassava and corn and layers and broilers. 12 training courses on cassava and corn production techniques and egg breeding techniques were held and 330 participants were trained. Walking into the demonstration center, melons and fruits are fragrant everywhere and full of vitality. Here has become a demonstration and training base for agriculture, a tourist resort and a base for popular science education.

The pace of "going out" in tropical agricultural science and technology is accelerating, and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has sent experts to Myanmar to guide the construction of rubber production bases, to Mozambique to guide cashew planting and pest prevention and control techniques, and to Vanuatu to guide oil palm planting techniques. Whether in Asia, ASEAN, South Asia, Africa, South Pacific island countries, the hot area is full of experts from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. Due to the long-term foreign aid missions abroad, some experts have worked hard to become ill and even laid down their lives. Over the past five years, researcher Liang Lihong, a cashew expert, has successively carried out cashew technology aid projects in Mozambique and Tanzania, guided cashew planting and pest prevention and control technologies, and set up joint cashew research centers in Mozambique and Tanzania, respectively. It has made outstanding contributions to the development of cashew industry in these two countries. Due to the long anniversary of the foreign aid project, for 2-3 years of a project, researcher Liang Lihong lived abroad for a long time, refused to accept soil and water, became ill from overwork, and suffered from serious gastrointestinal diseases. He died in November this year at the age of 51.

Tropical agricultural science and technology blossoms and bears fruit in the hot areas of the world, which is also due to the strong support of many international cooperation platforms. The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has successively established academic exchanges and cooperative research relations with 16 international scientific and technological organizations and more than 30 countries and regions, and signed 40 cooperation memorandums or agreements. There are 11 international cooperation platforms, such as FAO Tropical Agricultural Research and training reference Center, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of the Ministry of Science and Technology, International Joint Laboratory, CATAS-CIAT Cooperation Office, etc., undertaking more than 100 international cooperation projects.

The going out of tropical agricultural science and technology has further broadened the exchange field and development space of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences. Wang Qinghuang, president of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, said that the hot area of the world is vast, and there is an urgent need for tropical agricultural science and technology. In the next step, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences will continue to strengthen the construction of international cooperation platform. We will strive to establish overseas experimental stations and joint research centers for research and development of important tropical crops in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and other countries.