Recently, the Chinese Society of Agronomy officially announced the list of winners of the 2022–2023 Shennong China Agricultural Science and Technology Awards. The Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), received multiple honors: one research team was awarded the Outstanding Innovation Team Award; one research achievement led by the institute and two achievements participated in by the institute received the First Prize for Scientific Research Achievements; and one achievement participated in by the institute received the Third Prize for Scientific Research Achievements.

The Shennong China Agricultural Science and Technology Award is a national, comprehensive science and technology award for the agricultural sector. It was approved by the former Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Science and Technology in January 2006 and is dedicated to recognizing agricultural scientists and innovation teams that have made outstanding contributions to agricultural scientific and technological progress and to agricultural and rural economic development in China. In recent years, IARRP has continued to focus on cultivated land science and technology, carried out original and leading-edge research, accelerated the integration of industry, academia, and research, and achieved a series of significant scientific and technological innovations.

The Agricultural Remote Sensing Innovation Team, led by Researcher Wu Wenbin, was awarded the Outstanding Innovation Team Award. Guided by the national strategy of sustainable farmland use, the team has focused on fundamental and applied research in agricultural remote sensing. It established theories and methods for thermal infrared remote sensing inversion of key farmland water and heat parameters, broke through technical bottlenecks in all-weather inversion of these parameters, and addressed critical challenges related to low accuracy in remote sensing monitoring of cultivated land under fragmented plots and complex cropping conditions. The team also overcame key technical barriers in the quantitative monitoring and evaluation of agricultural conditions, achieving high spatiotemporal precision in crop parameter acquisition and yield prediction. Overall, the technology has reached an internationally advanced and domestically leading level, making creative contributions to the development of agricultural remote sensing as a discipline and to the application of related research outcomes.

The research achievement "Key technologies and applications for reducing fertilizer use while improving efficiency in important economic crops," led by Researcher He Ping, received the First Prize for Scientific Research Achievements. Focusing on key scientific and technical issues in nutrient utilization of cultivated land, the project targeted major economic crops such as cotton, soybean, peanut, as well as Chinese cabbage, tomato, cucumber, and potato. With the goal of reducing fertilizer application while improving efficiency, the team developed a new intelligent fertilizer recommendation method based on yield response and agronomic efficiency. It also developed key technologies for fertilizer reduction and efficiency improvement, including organic fertilizer substitution and integrated water–fertilizer management, as well as new fertilizer products. By integrating and innovating precise and efficient fertilization models, the project comprehensively established a theoretical and technical system for fertilizer reduction and efficiency improvement in major economic crops, significantly enhancing fertilizer use efficiency, crop yields, and overall benefits.

Looking ahead, the institute will continue to adhere to the principles of "Four Orientations" Theory and "Double First-Class" Initiative, directly address bottlenecks in cultivated land science and technology innovation, advance organized scientific research and systematic innovation, and provide strong scientific and technological support for the sustainable use of cultivated land, thereby safeguarding national food security and promoting high-quality agricultural and rural development.

Award-winning achievements of IARRP in the 2022–2023 Shennong China Agricultural Science and Technology Awards