Date: 2014-07-03

　　The department of Protected Horticulture Engineering Technology is an institution that focuses on basic research, technological research and industrial development of Protected Horticulture. The center has nine staffs, including three professors, five associated professors, doctoral and master student more than fifty people.
Our research directions are research protected crop physiology and ecology, facility configuration optimization and environment control, quality and efficient cultivation of protected crop.
The centre bears many research programs in China, including the national basic research of China (973 program), the national high-tech R&D program (863), the modern agricultural industrial technology system positions scientist program, the national industrialization demonstration program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the key scientific and technological program of Jiangsu Province, major scientific and technological research program, agricultural research, agricultural Three new Engineering, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, the agricultural science and technology promotion program in Jiangsu Province, Shanghai agricultural science and technology program. We have completed more over 60 programs of various technologies, and obtained more than 20 scientific and technological achievements.
The center successfully used organic wastes such as Paper mill wastes, mushroom residues and crop straw for synthesizing horticultural matrix, forming a technical system of light matrix for plug seedling and organic matrix for soilless cultivation. Substrate culture, grafting, soil testing fertilization and upland rotation were as key technologies in the formation of the prevention system of vegetable continuous cropping obstacles. A system of high quality and efficient cultivation for greenhouse vegetable has been established and applied in production. We have studied the effects of salt stress, hypoxia stress, heat stress and other environmental stresses on growth and physiological metabolisms and molecular mechanisms of vegetable crops such as cucumber, and investigated the mechanism of exogenous substances to protect vegetable crops from the damage caused by environmental stresses. We have studied a growth and development simulation model of protected vegetable crop, initially established a watermelon cultivation and management expert system. We have also won 2 second prizes of national science and technology awards and 9 first, second and third prizes of provincial national science and technology awards.
The soilless cultivation of organic substrate culture in greenhouse crop production has been widely popularized among 10 provinces and 1 city in central and southern of China, and created good social, ecological and economic benefits. In addition, we have accumulated a wealth of experience in the introduction and screening of new greenhouse crop varieties, pollution-free crop production, cultivation facility environmental control, facility structural improvements, plug seedlings technologies, summer greenhouse cultivation techniques, and the planning and construction of high-tech agricultural demonstration zone. We have obtained a series of scientific and technological achievements, and many achievements have initially achieved industrialization.
The center has established extensive contacts and partnerships with Japan, Canada, Netherlands, Korea and Belgium to communicate and collaborate in the aspects of the introduction of new varieties, environmental control technologies, growth simulation models, new technologies cultivation and the design, construction, and renovation of the cultivation facilities.