On November 12, frontier forum on nitrogen use efficiency and legume biology was held in the academic lecture hall of Zhongzhou Yihe Hotel, Jinming campus of HENU. The forum was hosted by State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement and the School of Life Sciences of HENU. More than 300 audience attended the forum, including students, senior experts and relevant officials from Graduate School, Discipline Construction Office, School of Life sciences, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology and State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement. Focusing on important topics including legume biology and breeding, biological nitrogen fixation and efficient utilization of crop nitrogen, the experts discussed important problems in the frontier and application field of the sustainable development of green agriculture. Wang Xuelu chaired the forum.

The experts who attended the forum include Academician Gai Junyi from Nanjing Agricultural University, Professor Fu Xiangdong, winner of National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, from Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, Zhongshan Chair Professor Xu Guohua from Nanjing Agricultural University, Professor Wang Xuelu, winner of National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, Changjiang Scholar and Vice-president of HENU, Professor Wang Ertao, winner of National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, from Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences/Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, CAS and Professor Liu Baohui, the academic leader of GuangZhou University’s biology discipline.

Professor Song Chunpeng, President of HENU, delivered a welcome speech at the opening ceremony. He first extended a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to all the experts who came to the forum. He also briefly introduced HENU’s history of over 100 years and development status of biology discipline, which was selected for “Double First-Class” Initiative Disciplines Development in China. He pointed out that the extensive use of nitrogen fertilizer had caused serious soil deterioration as well water and soil pollution, which posed a serious threat to the sustainable development of agriculture, thus improving the nitrogen use efficiency of crops had become an urgent demand to promote green development in China. It was of great importance to study the biological nitrogen fixation in legume and non-legume crops and improve nitrogen use efficiency, so as to reduce the nitrogen application and ensure food security in China. It was hoped that this forum would contribute to the research on nitrogen use efficiency and legume biology and the development of green agriculture.

Gai Junyi made an important report entitled Important propositions on developing the science and technology of China’s soybean industry. In the report, he summarized several ‘neck stuck’ problems related to the development of soybean industry, and put forward high expectations to young scholars, young teachers and graduate students present. Subsequently, Liu Baohui, Wang Ertao, Fu Xiangdong, Wang Xuelu and Xu Guohua made excellent reports on the important issues in the fields including regulation of soybean growth period, development basis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation, efficient nitrogen utilization in rice, soybean-rhizobium interaction and regulation of growth period and nitrogen use efficiency by nitrogen, respectively.

At the end of the forum, Wang Xuelu expressed his gratitude to all the experts for their brilliant talks, and encouraged young teachers and postgraduates to focus on the scientific frontier and the major strategic needs of the country, and further refine and deepen the research direction and topics, so as to make important scientific research achievements, promote the discipline construction to a new level, and boost the “Double First-Class” Initiative discipline development of HENU.

Contribution: State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement