Founded in 1958, the Tobacco Research Institute (TRI) – 烟草研究所 is responsible for tobacco agricultural science and technology research at the central government level. The institute operates 18 national, provincial, and ministerial level innovation platforms and international cooperation platforms, such as the National Tobacco Improvement Center, the Key Laboratory of Tobacco Biology and Processing of MARA, the National Tobacco Breeding Center, and the China-Canada Joint Laboratory of Integrated Plant Pest Management.
Research areas include:
- Tobacco genetics and breeding
- Tobacco functional genomics
- Tobacco physiology and cultivation
- Theory and technology of tobacco curing
- Modern agricultural technology in tobacco growing areas
- Special economic crops in Shandong
- Quality and safety assessment of tobacco products
- Control of tobacco diseases and insect pests
- Development and utilization of agriculture in the intertidal zone
The institute has 203 employees, including 26 professors and 46 associate professors. TRI holds the world’s largest collection of tobacco germplasm resources and plays a leading role in China’s tobacco agricultural research. It has established academic exchanges with scientists from the USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and Zimbabwe. Long-term collaborations have been formed with institutions like Cornell University and the US Horticultural Research Laboratory. In October 2022, TRI and six Russian research institutions including the Center for Russian-Chinese Humanitarian Cooperation and Development, Michurinsk State Agrarian University, Don State Agrarian University, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Tobacco, Makhorka and Tobacco Products signed the “Qingdao Sino-Russian Future Agriculture Research Institute” Construction Cooperation Agreement.
More information: https://tric.caas.cn/en/index.htm.
