Regional Agriculture Research Center was established for solving the vital scientific problems of regional modern agriculture development. It is composed of Laboratory of Black Soil Ecology, Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology, Hailun National Research Station of Agroecology, and Da’an Sodic Land Ecology Experiment Station. At present, this center includes 44 personnel, among which 16 are professors, 11 associate professors, and 14 assistant professors. And there are eight Ph.D. supervisors, three returned overseas post-doctors, 30 graduate students studying in the center.

Since the 1950s, the center has done much research work and obtained a lot of achievements, especially in the following aspects: (1) Agricultural resources, environment and ecology, such as the nutrient cycle and regulation in farmland; nutrient cycle and productivity of farmland; the background of soil and water environment; the energy balance in agricultural system; and the structure, function and optimized pattern of agricultural ecosystem. (2) The study on dryland agriculture and transformation of mid- and low-yield farmland and saline-alkali land, especially in the Songnen Plain and the Sanjiang Plain. (3) The optimized modes and corresponding technological systems for sustainable development of agriculture in different areas, such as the mode of comprehensive management and ecological construction of fragile ecological area; the 3-dimensional simulation of groundwater movement and its optimized management mode; and the technological systems of increasing yields of maize and soybean. (4) The research and demonstration of the comprehensive development of regional agriculture.

In recent years, the center has presided over several decades of major research programs from National Natural Science Foundation of China, Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program), National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China ( 863 Program), National Key Technologies R & D Program of China, Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and so on. And the center has produced five major innovation achievements, more than 20 of key technologies and modes, three patents, and a lot of papers published at home and abroad.