Annual meeting of National Wheat Rusts and Powdery Mildew Collaboration Group of China, organized by IPP and co-hosted by Southwest University of Science and Technology, Sichuan Department of Agriculture, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Mianyang Bureau of Agriculture, was held in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, on 15 January, 2016. The leaders and experts who were present at the Meeting and made speeches include Dr. CHEN Jianping, the Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the president of Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS), Mr. DOU Penghui, Director of the Division of the Industrial Technology, Department of Crop Production (DCP), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Mr. WANG Jianqiang, Deputy Director of the Division of Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine, DCP-MOA, Prof. YANG Shiyuan, Vice President of Southwest University of Science and Technology, Dr. PAN Haiping, the Chief Agronomist of Sichuan Department of Agriculture, Mr. LU Huoming, the Party Secretary of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Mr. ZHAI Qingzi, the investigator of Mianyang Bureau of Agriculture, Mr. LU Jianzhong, the Deputy Director General of Department of Research Management, Dr. XIAO Shihe, the Chief Scientist of National Wheat Industrial Technology System and Mr. WEN Xue, the Deputy Director General of the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The theme of this meeting is Decrease of Agricultural Chemical Use and Effective Control of Wheat Diseases. Prof. CHEN Wanquan, the Director of the Key Laboratory for Integrated Crop Pests Management, MOA, and the Head of National Wheat Rusts and Powdery Mildew Collaboration Group of China hosted the Meeting. He briefed the history of the Collaboration Group and the achievements obtained through collaboration. Mr. WANG Jianqiang introduced the status quo of the occurrence of wheat diseases and the control, the existing problems and the demands from the industry. Mr. DOU Penghui informed MOA's action plans on promoting agricultural competitiveness through science and technology. He also explained the fundamentality, sociality, and publicity of researches on plant protection. He asked that the innovation of science and technology should focus on frontier of international researches, the demand from the industry and issues of farmers, rural development and agriculture, and the innovated technology should possess breakthrough and revolutionary characters and be practical. He said that scientists in agriculture should stand fast to action and spirit of science and technology.

The Meeting invited fourteen keynote presentations. The speakers centered around the theme of the Meeting and talked on the dynamics of Ug99, the stem rust new race that have significant thread potential, the creation and rational utilization of wheat germplasm with disease resistance, plant protection innovation and scientific and technical service system under the new normal, decrement use of pesticides through integrated use of biological and chemical pesticides, the actions and the mechanisms of managing diseases through crop diversification, the pathogenesis of wheat rust and powdery mildew pathogens and the precise monitoring, wheat diseases and food safety, new strategies in wheat breeding, novel techniques used in disease control, etc. The speakers include Prof. Ronnie Coffman from Cornell University, USA, and the standing vice chairman of Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, Dr. Ravi Singh, Director of Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT, Prof. Robert Park from University of Sydney and the coordinator of Australian Rust Program, Prof. CHEN Jianping, Academician and the President of ZAAS, Prof. KANG Zhensheng, the Director of Functional Laboratory for Pests, National Wheat Industry Technology System, Prof. ZHANG Yuejin, the chief expert in plant protection, National Agriculture Technology Extension Service Center, Prof. HE Zhonghu, the Director of Beijing Office, CYMMIT, and National Center of Wheat Improvement, Prof. ZHOU Mingguo, Nanjing Agricultural University, etc.

There were three satellite sessions in the Meeting. The participants of the satellite sessions discussed the joint monitoring of the variation of pathogen physiological races and cultivar resistance, the strategy and techniques of the integrated disease management and monitoring and controlling of major outbreaks of the diseases. Directed against the new issues occurred in wheat production, the participants probed into the solutions and measures of solutions. The participants proposed to reinforce collaborations among the relevant institutions, to share the outcomes of the researches and to manage rusts and powdery mildew scientifically. A collaboration plan was put forward for wheat disease No.1. The Meeting determined to adjust the differential hosts for wheat stripe rust and the variation observation nursery of cultivar resistance. A widely distributed pathogen group, which was previously called pathotype Guinong 22, was designated as race CYR 34.

Facing the severe situation that wheat rusts and powdery mildew have broken out for several time in the recent decade and most of the commercial cultivars are susceptible to the diseases, the Meeting proposed the Ministry of Agriculture to set up a long-term fund to support the work implemented by National Wheat Rusts and Powdery Mildew Collaboration Group of China so as to push the joint innovation and progress based on the work that has been collaboratively carried out for decades in the Group.

More than 130 scientists and experts who work on wheat diseases from more than 50 international and domestic research institutions, universities and technical extension institutions attended this meeting. Deputy Director ZOU Yafei, and Drs. XU Shichang, ZHOU Yilin, GAO Li, LIN Ruiming, FENG Jing, LIU Bo, FAN Jieru and WANG Fengtao from IPP were present at the meeting.