The 2018 Meeting of International Advisory Board (IAB) of Plant Protection was held at Institute of Plant Protection, CAAS (IPP-CAAS) on November 5-8 in Beijing. Seven world renowned scientists in the field of plant protection served as the 2018 IAB members and participate in the meeting.

The main purpose of this meeting was to conduct a diagnostic evaluation for the mid-term progress of the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) of IPP-CAAS. Prof. Zhou Xueping, DG of IPP-CAAS firstly made a general report on the mid-term progress of the ASTIP of IPP-CAAS, followed by progress report from 17 chief scientists on behalf of their innovation teams. More than 100 staff attended the meeting. Afterwards, the IAB members provided their evaluations to each innovation team from three aspects including research directions and goals, research achievements, and future plans.

The IAB members appreciated the leading role of IPP in the field of plant protection and its role in supporting national food security and agricultural safety in China. Furthermore, the IAB member  pointed out that IPP as a research institute focusing on both basic research and applied research, should engage in  a more innovative evaluation system. It was necessary to improve the evaluation system currently dominated only by “SCI” and “impact factors”, and to establish more diversified evaluation criteria. For pesticides and biocontrol products with potential for production and application, it was necessary to support with reliable experimental data and actively promote the transformation of scientific research results. At the same time, with China's growing influence, agricultural scientists should give serious attention to the responsibilities and original intention of their work, in order to better serve the farmers and society. During the meeting, the Youth Committee of IPP-CAAS organized a luncheon to communicate with the Advisory Committee members. The IAB members gave valuable suggestions on the career development of young people.

IPP was one of the first institutes implementing the ASTIP of CAAS which was launched in 2013. After the first phase (2013-2016) of development, 17 innovative teams have been established and entered the second phase of the program. The 2018 IAB meeting provided a good opportunity for IPP-CAAS to learn international experiences and elaborate future development plan.

The IAB members include: Dr. Jan Leach, Associate Dean for Research, College of Agriculture, Colorado State University and President of the International Society of Plant Pathology; Dr. Steven Lommel, Director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University; Dr. Ulrich Kuhlmann, Executive Director of Global Operations at Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), and Co-Director of CABI-MARA Joint Laboratory for Bio-safety; Dr. Xia Jingyuan, Secretary General of the International Plant Protection Commission, and Food and Agriculture Organization; Dr. Zhu Jiankang, Director of Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of USA; Dr. Lan Yubin, Director and leading scientist of National Center for International Collaboration Research on Precision Agricultural Aviation Pesticides Spraying Technology, and Academician of European Academy of Humanities and Arts; and Dr. Liu Tongxian, National Distinguished Professor and Dean of the College of Plant Health and Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University.

By Tian Fang (tfcaas@126.com)