On April 19-22, the Fourth High-level International Forum on Protected Horticulture, co-hosted by CAAS and Shouguang Municipal People’s Government, was held in Shouguang, Shandong Province. Dr. Zhang Yanqing, Director General of the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (EIDA), and Professor Murat Kacira, Chairman of International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) Horticulture Engineering Branch, addressed the opening ceremony. Over 260 experts and scholars from more than 10 foreign countries, mainly the USA, Netherlands, Japan, Britain, Canada, Portugal, Israel and South Korea attended the event.

The forum, with the theme of Energy Conservation, High Efficiency, Intelligence and Safety, showed the great concern over the prospects of protected horticulture. Around 40 experts at home and abroad reported the latest progress in protected horticulture science and technology. During the four-day-long forum, experts made in-depth exchanges and discussions in fields of simplification of protected horticulture structure, energy conservation and new energy utilization, intelligent environment control, efficient stereoscopic cultivation, new materials and equipment, plant factory and Internet of Things. The Forum also published a paper collection titled Progress in Innovative Technology of Protected Horticulture, with 6 of which rank excellent.
 

By Liu Yukun
liuyukun@caas.cn