On Nov. 20, 2019, the forum of “Science and Technology for Agricultural and Rural Development in China” was held in Nanjing. This forum was supervised by the De-partment of Science, Technology and Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), and sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and co-sponsored by the Department of Achievements Transformation of CAAS, the National Service Center for Transfer of Agricultural Technology, and Science and Technology Innovation Demonstration Park of Nanjing National Modern Agricultural Industry. Top 10 new technologies, new productions and new apparatus in Chinese agriculture and rural areas were released on the forum. The announcements provided a platform for the cooperation between academic scientific research and enterprises, then facilitate the technology transfer and practical application, and eventually provide technical support to improve indigenous innovation and scientific innovation, and the development of local industry. A total of 30 people attended the forum, coming from different research institutes, colleges and universities, and leading enterprises in agricultural industry. The technology entitled “Integrated management of vegetable soil borne diseases based on plant healthy cultivation” accomplished by the research group of Biocontrol of Soil-borne Disease, from the Department of Biological Control at IPP-CAAS, was elected into “Top 10 new technologies in 2019”, and was released at this forum.

Vegetable production in the protected greenhouse in China was restrained by serious soil borne diseases. A series of problems resulted from long term unreasonable cultivation practices were considered as major factors contributing to disease occurrence, such as dramatic decline of soil organic matters, disruption of soil physical characteristics, great unbalance of mineral nutrients, population increase of delete-rious microbes and plant pathogens as well as the enhancement of pathogen's virulence. Through 20 years' research and practical application in fields, a new management strategy on vegetable soil borne diseases based on healthy cultivation was pro-posed by the research group of Biocontrol of Soil Borne Disease. The main contents are listed below:

• Seriously-diseased fields should be pre-sterilized or fumigated via sun sterilization and/or fumigation with Dazomet at cultivation areas where the conditions of climate, vegetable growing stages, and product output are permitted.
•  Beneficial biocontrol agents such as Paecilomyces lilacinus, Bacillus and Clonostachys rosea and their proper application techniques should be selected according to targeted pathogens.
• Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micro-elements fertilizers should be properly applied according to nutrient supply in soil and crop requirement for nutrients. Moreover, irrigation should be controlled to a certain level during the whole growing stages.
•  The acidity or salinity of soil should be improved to prevent the negative influence on root development.

In order to apply the above technology, a total of 20 commercial products contain-ing bio-fungicides, organic fertilizers, bio-organic fertilizers and functional soluble fertilizers have been developed. The field practical applications in Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and Henan provinces etc. proved that the integrated management strategy was effective, and alleviated the problems such as root stuck, serious root rot diseases, and reduced disease incidence at seedling stages. The vege-table yields increased by over 30%, and chemical pesticides and fertilizers amount was reduced by over 50%. Thus, farmers earned 2,000-6,000 yuan more per mu. These results indicated that the integrated management strategy had significant economic, social and ecological benefits.

The forum was chaired by Academician Wang Hanzhong, Vice President of CAAS. Zhang Taolin, Vice Minister of MARA, Zhang Hecheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of CAAS, Liao Xiyuan, Director General of Science, Technology and Education Department, MARA; Huo Huiping, Vice Mayor of Nanjing Municipal Government, Cai Heng, Deputy Director General of Jiangsu Agricultural and Rural Affairs Department, and Cao Hailian, Chief of Pukou District, Nanjing City attended the forum.

By Guo Rongjun (guorj20150620@126.com)