Nanjing Agricultural University is recognized as the birthplace of modern grass science in China. As early as the 1940s, Professor Wang Dong, the founder of grass science in China, pioneered teaching and research in herbology at Central University, the predecessor of Nanjing Agricultural University.
The College of Agro-Grassland Science currently has 31 full-time faculty members, including 8 professors. The college offers a multi-level talent training system, covering undergraduate programs in Grass Science and Turf Science and Engineering, as well as master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs. The student body consists of 166 graduate students and 182 undergraduate students.
The college specializes in grassland agricultural systems research, with a focus on grassland environmental engineering and management, grassland resources and ecology, pasture and turfgrass germplasm resources, pasture and turfgrass physiology and biochemistry, genetic breeding of pasture and turfgrass, pasture cultivation and processing, and the sustainable utilization of artificial grasslands.
The college operates several key laboratories and research centers, including the Grass Germplasm Innovation and Utilization Laboratory, which was designated as a Key Laboratory of Jiangsu Universities and Colleges in 2016. In 2020, the Laboratory of Grass Germplasm Innovation and Utilization in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River was approved as a Key Laboratory of the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau, and the Grass Germplasm Resource Bank of Nanjing Agricultural University was approved as a Provincial Forestry and Grass Germplasm Resource Bank.
The college also maintains specialized research facilities, including the Grass Plant Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology Laboratory; Grass Ecology and Grassland Management Research Laboratory; Grass Biotechnology and Breeding Laboratory; Herbology Laboratory; and Forage Processing and Storage Laboratory. Additionally, the college has 16 off-campus teaching and research bases in Jiangsu, Anhui, Guizhou, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Hunan, and other regions. Among these, the Jiangsu Kunshan Rice Science and Technology Academy was approved by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the General Office of the China Association for Science and Technology, while the Jurong Turf Research Institute was designated as a postgraduate workstation in Jiangsu Province.
The college is actively expanding international cooperation with leading universities worldwide. It has established a “2+2” undergraduate dual-degree program and a “3+2” master’s joint training program with Rutgers University (United States). Additionally, it is working to strengthen partnerships with Massey University (New Zealand), the University of Sydney (Australia), and the University of Florida (United States).
More information (in Chinese): https://cyxy.njau.edu.cn.
