1、Introduction to the Center
The Tropical Pasture Research Center started from the Green Manure and Forage Research Group in the 1960s. Based on the needs of grassland development in domestic and world tropical regions, the Center carried out the research on tropical forage germplasm resources and innovative utilization. Guided by industrial needs, the Center focused on research and development work such as collection and preservation of forage, green manure and turfgrass germplasm resources, cultivation of elite varieties, integration of cultivation and utilization technology, meet the needs of healthy and stable development of pasture animal husbandry in tropical areas. After more than 60 years of development, a stable talent team and research system have been formed, a number of fruitful research achievements have been obtained, platforms such as the National Tropical Plant Germplasm Resource Repository of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Tropical Forage Mid-term Backup Repository of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Grass Variety Regional Test Station of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Grass Variety Regional Test Station of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Forage Germplasm Resource Repository of Hainan Province and the Grass Industry Engineering Center of Hainan Province have been established. Center also has one National Industrial Technology System Post Scientist and one Station Master of Green Manure Station.
2、Central team
There are 19 scientific researchers in the Tropical Pasture Research Center, including 16 senior professional titles, 3 intermediate professional titles, 12 doctors, 7 masters, 2 doctoral supervisors and 10 master's supervisors. One person was honored with “outstanding agricultural scientific research talent of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs”, and two people were honored with the “Young Talents Promotion Project of the China Association for Science and Technology”. Director of the Center: Dr. Dong Rongshu, Deputy Directors: Dr. Tang Jun and Dr. Liu Yiming.
3、Central Orientation
The center takes pasture, green manure and turfgrass as research objects, carries out research on technology and mechanism of resource, breeding, cultivation and utilization, and sets up three research groups: forage germplasm resources and application, green manure and grass cultivation and cultivation of new grass varieties.
4、Research progress
More than 2,000 high-quality forage germplasm resources at home and abroad were collected and preserved, and more than 14,000 grass resources were preserved in the National Tropical Forage Mid-term Backup Repository of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Carry out resources evaluation and new variety cultivation, and obtain six National approved new varieties and one New variety protection right; Carry out research on the cultivation and application technology of tropical forage and green manure, integrated the technical system of intercropping and utilization of orchards in tropical area, and won one major recommended technology by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and one by Hainan Province; The ecological and efficient development model of "upper management income, middle management stone and lower management ecology" has been constructed in different types of rocky desertification regions, realizing win-win development of economy and ecology in rocky desertification regions; The genome sequencing of Stylosanthes was completed, and the efficient genetic transformation, proteomics, root biology and other research systems of Stylosanthes were also established. By means of molecular biology, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabonomics, the physiological and molecular mechanisms of tropical forages adapting to high salinity, low phosphorus, aluminum and manganese toxicity in acid soil were revealed. The key reason of stylosanthes seed drop was determined, and the materials of stylosanthes with low seed drop were screened, which laid the foundation for the breakthrough of stylosanthes seed production bottleneck.
