The Liaoning Academy of Agricultural Sciences (LAAS) – 辽宁省农业科学院, founded in 1956, is the only provincial-level comprehensive agricultural research institution in Liaoning Province. It focuses on agricultural science and technology innovation, scientific and technological services, and personnel training. The academy conducts research in a wide range of fields, including planting, forestry, fishery, agricultural machinery, grain processing, agro-economics, and agricultural information. It has made significant advancements in the research of hybrid japonica rice, sorghum, tomato, tulip, plum, apricot, hazelnut, sericulture, scallop, prickly ginseng, sand fixation and afforestation, dryland farming systems, and black soil conservation and utilization.
The academy consists of 38 divisions, including 30 research institutes and five branch institutes jointly established with local governments, which are located across 10 cities in Liaoning Province, as well as in Hainan Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It employs 2,124 personnel, including 501 researchers, of whom 213 hold PhD degrees. LAAS operates a range of national and ministerial science and technology platforms, including the National Key Laboratory of Maize Breeding and the National Sorghum Improvement Center. Additionally, the academy manages eight national original seed bases, four national germplasm resource conservation nurseries, and 23 key laboratories and observatories at the ministerial level. It also serves as a national postdoctoral research station. In 2022, the academy received approval for five new national scientific and technological platforms, such as the National Key Laboratory of Maize Biological Breeding, as well as two new provincial key laboratories and engineering technology centers. LAAS has built a scientific and technological service network covering 85 counties and districts in Liaoning Province. Over the years, the academy has supported more than 1,000 new agricultural enterprises, demonstrated and promoted 739 new crop varieties, and introduced 956 new agricultural technologies. It has also played a role in developing six modern agricultural demonstration zones.
Since 1982, the academy has been engaged in poverty alleviation through science and technology. It has established over 20 poverty-alleviation task forces and 12 village-based task forces, with more than 600 experts actively participating in related initiatives. LAAS has developed several industrial poverty-alleviation demonstration models and supported the growth of specialized industries, including apple cultivation in Yixian County, meat goat farming in Fumeng County, edible mushroom production in Xiuyan, and the sweet potato industry in Zhangwu County. The “Scientific and Technological Poverty Alleviation in Liaoning Xingcheng” project was recognized by the State Council’s Poverty Alleviation Office as one of the selected cases in “How China’s Poverty Reduction Miracle is Made – Selected Cases of Poverty Alleviation”.
More information (in Chinese): https://www.laas.cn/show-26-13.html
