The Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology (IGA) of CAS – 东北地理与农业生态研究所 is Northeast China’s comprehensive research base specializing in geography, agriculture, ecology, environmental science, and technology. For more than 60 years, the institute has contributed to national strategies concerning food security, ecological security, and the revitalization of the Old Northeast Industrial Base.
Key research areas include wetland ecology, restoration of degraded salt marshes, the ecological paradigm of Reed-Crab/Fish-Rice systems, black soil degradation, soybean genetics, and the soybean gene bank. IGA has also developed essential technologies for low-yield farmland management, the fast restoration of climax vegetation on degraded lands, large-scale rice planting, and soil improvement in saline-sodic lands.
IGA has played a crucial role in a national research campaign to evaluate and address black soil degradation, ensuring the sustainability and productivity of fertile soils. The institute houses several key facilities, including the Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment and the Key Laboratory of Black Soil Agroecology, both affiliated with CAS. Other research centers include the Key Laboratory of Soybean Molecular Design Breeding, the Center of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information, and the Regional Development Research Center of Northeast China.
At its Sanjiang Plain Wetland Research Station, IGA has established a Wetland Observatory Network for Northeast China. At the Hailun Agroecosystem Field Station, the institute has set up an Agricultural Observatory Network for Northeast China.
More information: http://english.iga.cas.cn/.
