This Division’s research spans a spectrum of areas from basic plant science to cropping systems that are environmentally friendly and economically viable. It takes account of crops grown for food, for health care, for animal feed, as well as for ornamental purposes. Crop science research addresses both biotic and abiotic factors that limit or reduce crop performance, as well as postharvest factors that affect eating quality, processing quality, storability, and/or shipping quality. The division employs a wide range of approaches to enhance crop productivity and research efficiency: biotechnology, breeding, cultivation improvement, experimental design, agricultural information management, and other modern technologies. There are seven laboratories in the division: rice crop, dryland and special crops, fruit crops, vegetable crops, crop and stress physiology, biostatistics and bioinformatics, and postharvest handling. Through these labs, our crop scientists seek to improve productivity, profitability, sustainability and quality of our targeted crops. Recent achievements include: rice varieties with superior eating qualities, resistance to diseases and insects, lodging resistance and high yielding; maize and peanut varieties with value-added traits for special purposes; yam and xiancao (Mesona chinensis) as health promoting foods; low-chill temperate fruits for lowland areas; cucurbit vegetables with disease resistance, superior quality and high yielding; automated cultivation technologies; various organic agricultural technologies; new vegetables; and cut-flower certification and labeling scheme. These newly developed varieties and technologies are well accepted by the farmers and consumers. In the future, efforts will be made to integrate conventional breeding, precision farming technology, postharvest handling technology, agricultural science and technology information, biotechnology and related modern science and technology to continue enhancing crop research capacity and capability, improving crop productivity and quality, diversifying quality products, and translating R&D results into commercial opportunities so as to transform agriculture to the next strata of development with a particular emphasis on competitiveness that benefits the farmers.
