At the recommendation of CAAS, Prof. Yamashita Ichiji, the chief Japanese expert of R&D Program for China’s Sustainable Agriculture got Chinese government National Friendship Award to recognize his contribution to the development and dissemination of sustainable agricultural technologies in China. He and other award winners were received by Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on September 30^th, 2014.

 

Sponsored by both Chinese and Japanese government and undertook by Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA, CAAS), R&D Program (2002-2014) for China’s Sustainable Agriculture has been the largest bilateral cooperative initiative between the two nations in the agricultural sector so far. Prof. Ichiji has been served as Chief Japanese Expert of the program for about 10 years (2004-2014). During his term of service, the program has successfully introduced series of environment-friendly technologies, including resource efficient fertilizing technologies, bio-degradable plastic film mulching technologies from Japan. In order to promote and disseminate these technologies, he organized and got involved into 35 training courses, with more than 1500 farmers trained throughout China. These technologies have been put into agricultural production in Shandong, Ningxia and Heilongjiang Provinces and generated notable economic, social and environmental benefits. At his active coordination, the program also played as a platform of academic and personnel exchange. In the past 5 years, 70 Chinese researchers got training in 10 Japanese counterpart research institutes and more than 30 Japanese experts were invited to give lectures and joint research in China.

China's Friendship Award is the nation’s highest honor for achievement by a foreigner to recognize their contribution to the economic and social development. This year, 100 hundred foreign experts from 25 countries received the award.
 

By Guo Ying
Guoying@caas.cn