The Center for Agricultural Resources Research has two key laboratories (i.e the Key Laboratory for Agricultural Water Resources of CAS and Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory for Water-saving Agriculture), eleven innovative research groups, and three professors from the “Hundred Talents Program of CAS”. The Center is aimed at national demands and forefront of scientific development, and has achieved significant progresses in efficient utilization of agricultural water resources, agricultural biotechnology and ecosystem management in 2009. The achievements included the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress (the third institute in the list), the second prize of Hebei Science and Technology Progress, and other two provincial awards. The Center published 121 papers in 2009; among which 44 were included in SCI, 11 in EI and 5 in ISTP. The Center was granted 14 patents, draw 2 local standards and had 4 new cultivars approved at provincial level.

For researches on water resources and water-saving agriculture, Yonghui Yang’s group found that there has been a drastic decline in sunshine hours by 8.29 hr/year since 1960, based on analysis of the long-term observed data from 81 weather stations in the North China. They identified wind speed being the driving cause of sunshine decline in the region. Yanjun Shen’s group studied the energy flux and evapotranspiration in a wheat + maize rotation cropping system using eddy covariance and found that similar patterns of energy flux were found for 2008 and 2009 seasons, however the timing of maximum energy flux appeared was depended on weather conditions. They also found that isotope of soil water at different depth was different, and there was significant heavy isotope enrichment in surface soil. Xiying Zhang’s group studied the root size, root:shoot ratio and soil water depletion for different cultivars released from 1970 to present and found that total root length of winter wheat decreased from earlier released cultivars to recent released cultivars. The reduction in root length mainly occurred in the top soil layer. Smaller root size in the upper soil layer did not affect soil water uptake, and might be more economical in terms of production efficiency.

For researches in agricultural biotechnology, Xia Li’s group identified the miRNAs and their targets in nitrogen fixing nodules in soybean for the first time. The results reveal the critical roles in nitrogen fixation in soybean and provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of regulation of nitrogen fixation efficiency. Diaoguo An’s group developed a set of molecular markers specific to all chromosome arms of rye (Secale cereale L), They have also designed and screened a total of 956 EST (expressed sequence tag) primers. As a result, 321 and 28 EST-based markers were proved to be the specific markers for rye genome and 14 chromosome arms, respectively. Junming Li’s group used BE-1 (a T. aestivum - T. ponticum partial amphiploid), novel T1RS/1BL translocation lines and plenty of tri-generic (T. aestivum / S. cereale / T. ponticum) lines to develop desirable agronomic traits, resistance to stripe rust and powdery mildew and strong gluten, which enriched the genetic stocks in wheat improvement.

For researches in ecosystem management, Chunsheng Hu’s group found that nitrogen application and irrigation triggered the highest N2O formation in soil air, leading to the N2O positive emission flux peaks at 30 cm depth and the negative emission flux peaks from 60 cm to 300 cm. They concluded that nitrogen application increased the annual accumulative N2O fluxes significantly at 30 to 60 cm soil depth. Jintong Liu’s group used regional hydrological models (SCS and SWAT models) to study the effects of mining on eco-hydrology. With the enlarging in mining area, rainfall infiltration coefficient was decreasing and runoff coefficient was increasing, that resulted in the shortened duration of runoff forming, accelerated timing of flood peak, and increased ecological hazard. Wanjun Zhang’s group studied the vegetation succession in Taihang Mountain and found that vegetation biomass and diversity were both increased with the increase in succession time. Vegetation in Taihang Mountain underwent the succession from perennial herb to perennial shrub, from lower to higher levels.

In 2009, one of the key laboratory of the center (Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory for Water-saving Agriculture) passed the evaluation by Hebei Province and was rated the first. “KN199”, a winter wheat cultivar that was breed by the center, was extended to four provinces (Hebei, Henan, Shandong and Shanxi), with sowing area of 417,333 ha in 2009, and accumulated sowing area being over 666,667 ha. In 2009, the center signed a long-term scientific and technological cooperation agreement with the Shijiazhuang Municipal People's Government on the establishment of comprehensive cooperative relations. In 2009, the Center purchased a stable isotope mass spectrometer.