On Jan 26, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) received multiple commendations and awards at the CAAS 2026 Annual Work Conference, reflecting its strong performance in institutional evaluation, talent development, scientific innovation, and research outcomes.

According to the 2025 CAAS institute evaluation results, IARRP ranked fourth overall in development strength, with its score increasing by 19.72% compared to 2024. The institute placed third across CAAS in the supplementary ranking for talent team development and first in the supplementary ranking for achievement transformation. Its overall strength score also ranked fourth, registering a year-on-year increase of 19.05%. In terms of growth momentum, IARRP's development speed ranking jumped from 26th to 13th, while its per-capita strength score advanced from sixth to fifth across the academy.

In addition, IARRP received multiple CAAS-level and above commendations and awards in 2025:

The project "Key Technologies and Integrated Demonstration for Ecological Restoration and Productivity Enhancement of Saline-Alkali Farmland," led by Li Yuyi, won the CAAS Outstanding Science and Technology Innovation Award.

The project "Molecular Speciation Characterization and Availability Regulation of Typical Soil Elements," led by Yang Jianjun, received the CAAS Young Scientist Science and Technology Innovation Award.

The major CAAS scientific task "Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies for Black Soil Health Cultivation and Grain Yield Enhancement," led by Wang Ligang, achieved excellent rating in its comprehensive performance evaluation.

Li Yuyi was awarded the CAAS Achievement Transformation Award for Contributions to Stable Production and Supply, while the Smart Agriculture Team received the CAAS Achievement Transformation Award for Science and Technology Development.

Zhao Rongkun, a doctoral student supervised by Tang Huajun, was honored with the CAAS Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award.

The "Liu Gengsheng Acidified Farmland Governance Science and Technology Task Force" was selected as one of the first batch of CAAS science and technology task forces named after senior scientists.

Liu Yunpeng was chosen for a national-level talent program, while Yang Yadong was selected for a provincial- and ministerial-level talent program.

Meng Shujun, a postdoctoral researcher,  secured the National Funded Postdoctoral Researcher Program (Category B).

The institute ranked first in the comprehensive evaluation of CAAS informationization development level.

The year 2026 marks the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan." IARRP will firmly uphold the principles of "putting science at the center, putting strivers first, advancing organized scientific research, and promoting full industrial-chain innovation." The institute will focus on key priorities including building a high-efficiency scientific research system, cultivating a high-caliber talent workforce, strengthening high-standard innovation platforms, promoting high-level research outputs, and deepening high-level opening-up.

With these efforts, IARRP will continue to advance toward its goal of building a world-class cultivated land science center, pooling collective strength to support cultivated land protection and quality improvement, empowering the development of modern large-scale agriculture, and making new and greater contributions to the goal of building China into a strong agricultural nation.