Founded in 1960, the Oil Crops Research Institute (OCRI) – 油类作物研究所 is a national research center focusing on oil crop research. It employs 280 staff and conducts research in:
- Germplasm resources
- Genetics and breeding
- Functional genomics
- Genetic engineering
- Cultivation and physiology
- Plant nutrition
- Plant protection
- Safety evaluation of transgenic plants
- Chemical analysis of quality traits
- Quality supervision
- Product processing of oil crops such as rapeseed, soybean, peanut, sesame, and other oil crops
OCRI operates several research platforms, including:
- The National Center for Oil Crops Improvement
- The National Rapeseed Industrial Technology Innovation Center
- The National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Rapeseed (in collaboration with Huazhong Agricultural University)
- The National Strategic Alliance for Industrial Technology Innovation of Rapeseed Processing
- The Key Laboratory of Biological and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops of MARA
- The Quality Inspection and Testing Center of Oilseed Products of MARA
- The Inspection and Testing Center of Environmental Biosafety of Transgenic Plants of MARA
- The Laboratory of Risk Assessment of Oilseeds Products of MARA
- The Key Laboratory of Detection of Mycotoxins of MARA
- Processing Pilot Plant of Oil Crops of MARA
The institute has developed 166 varieties of oil crops and secured 103 national patents.
More information (in Chinese): http://www.oilcrops.com.cn.
