On May 23, the unveiling ceremony of Center for Dryland Agriculture Ecosystems (CDAE), co-built by LZU, University of Western Australia (UWA) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), was held at the Yifu Scientific Center, LZU. Zhou Xuhong, president of LZU, and Paul Johnson, president of UWA, jointly inaugurated the CDAE. The unveiling ceremony was presided over by Jing Tao, vice president of LZU.
President Zhou in his speech expressed the wish that the establishment of the CDAE would further promote exchanges and cooperation among three parties in the field of dryland agro-ecosystems, make new contributions to achieving sustainable development in the respective areas, and also provide cases for reference for the development of similar areas in the world.
Paul Johnson said that agricultural science was one of the essential disciplines in UWA, also the strength of UWA 's teaching and research. Three parties would work together in the field of dryland farming system by means of crop simulation model, intelligent genetics, agriculture and livestock production, and ecosystem management and decision support systems.
Prof. Iain Watt, vice president of UWA, Eva Chye, assistant to the president of UWA, Prof. Kadambot Siddique, chairman of Agricultural Research Service, Dr. Majd Jamal, assistant president of ICARDA, Prof. James Reynolds, an expert on the international arid ecology from Duke University and also the Distinguished Professor of the Thousand Talents program of LZU , Prof. Xinyuan Ben Wu, an ecology expert from Texas A & M University, and also Miss Li Li and Miss Qin Mei, both directors from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, Sun Ninglan, director general from Gansu Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, Xu Yanli, director from the Management Office of Foreign Experts, Cheng Yu, deputy director of Science and Technology Exchange Center of Science and Technology Agency of Gansu Province and the Spark Program office, Prof. Cai Qingxiang, vice president of Tarim University, and academician Nan Zhibiao, director of the State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems SKLGAE attended the ceremony. Prof. Li Fengmin from the School of Life Sciences and some department heads from the International Cooperation and Exchange Office, the Office of the President, and Science and Technology Office of LZU also attended the ceremony.
After the unveiling ceremony, President Paul Johnson made a report entitled "University Education in the Face of Globalization” in Cuiying Honors College, LZU.
News Background:
Ecological disciplines are the traditional advantages and features of LZU, which have always been highly valued. The researches in the field of the arid ecological agriculture have made important contributions to the agricultural development in arid and semi-arid areas in China, and among them, the rain-harvesting agriculture research exerts extensive social influence. The life and agriculture sciences of UWA are in the forefront of this field in the world, and UWA has always been committed to improving the industrial development of agriculture of the region where it locates and the country at large. ICARDA is one of the renowned academic institutions dedicated to the study of sustainable development of agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. Since 2007, by relying on the platform of the cold and arid ecology innovation and talents recruitment base of "111 Plan" of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, LZU, UWA and ICARDA have been conducting fruitful cooperation. In February 2012, the three parties signed an agreement to co-build the CDAE. In March 2013, scientists of LZU, UWA and ICARDA gathered in Beijing, held academic forums, and scheduled to hold the unveiling ceremony CDAE of at LZU in May 2013.
(Translated by Li Yafeng; proofread by Sissi Xu)
