Yu Cheng Integrated Agricultural Experimental Station, Chinese Academy Of Sciences
The station (116°6'E, 36°7'N) is located at the southwest of Yu Cheng County in Shandong Province with an altitude of 20 meters above sea level. The area lies in the semi-humid, temperate and monsoon climate zone.. The annual temperature averages 21°C and the annual precipitation is 610mm. The under ground soils of the area are mainly the moisture soil and the salinized moisture soil. The natural conditions and agricultural production level of the area around the station are typical to the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. The construction of the station was started in 1979 and completed in 1983. It was ratified as an opening station by CAS in 1987 and incorporated into CERN in 1992.
The research work of the station focuses on the study of the structures and functions of agro-ecosystem, especially the energy transfer and material movement regarding the movement and utilization of water, as well as the optimization and management of agro-ecosystem, aimed mainly to serve the rational utilization of agricultural resources including water, soil, climate and biological resource etc., the comprehensive harnessing of such inhibiting factors as drought, water logging, and salinization etc., and the sustainable development of agricultural production.
Items of long term observation of the station include:(1) Farmland water evaporation; (2) Water demand ，water consumption, water utilization rate, and the rational use of ground water; (3) Farmland water observation; (4) Observation of the gradients of temperature, humidity, and wind regarding to the interaction of ground and atmosphere; (5) Iron tower experimental remote sensing system; (6) Crops photosynthesis.
The station now has a staff of 19 full time employees, including 3 professors, 3 associate professors, 2 assistant professors, 5 engineers, 2 technicians, and 4 administrative personnel. The station is an opening station of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Each year, More than 20 scientists come here to work as guest researchers. The station has a 14.7 hm2 experimental plot, a 5 square-kilometer mid-term experimental ground, and10 thousand hm2 of demonstration farmland.
Major facilities and equipments for observation and experiment include: farmland evaporation ground, crops photosynthesis ground, farmland water observation ground, the system for the observation of the gradients of temperature, humidity, and wind regarding to the interaction of ground and atmosphere, iron tower remote sensing system, artificial precipitation facility, soil water observation facility, CCD brush spectroscopic gathering system, nutrient balance ground, ripple ratio system, hot line pulsating wind speed meter, a complete system of solar radiation meter, leaf area measuring meter, the 34 ton auto weighing Lysimeter, carbon dioxide moisture meter, and time-domain reflectometer (TDR).
In addition, the station also has a soil physics lab, a plant physiology lab, a chemical analysis lab, .a computer room, an office building, and a guest house. Since its founding, over 200 scientists from more than 30 countries have visited the station. It has cooperative studies with the United States, Australia, France, and Estonia. Scientists from more than 20 research and educational institutions including Chinese Academy of Sciences have been working at the station. The experimental studies of the station have also won the active support from the concerned agencies of the local government.
