Background

　　The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #2 seeks to deliver Zero Hunger by 2030. However, since 2015, hunger and global food insecurity have actually increased at an alarming rate (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/). Globally, subtropical regions support over 30% of the world’s population, primarily in developing countries where farm land and food supply per capita comprise only 40% of those in developed countries. Meeting the SDG Goal of achieving zero hunger in the face of on-going population growth in subtropical regions will require a significant increase in agricultural production whilst minimizing soil degradation and the adverse ecological impacts of farming. Such challenges are shared by many countries across tropical and subtropical regions in South Asia, Africa and Central and South America.

　　Rice cultivation, dietary husbandry, and freshwater aquaculture are the primary agricultural production patterns worldwide in subtropical and tropical regions. China has a clearly demonstrated track record in promoting and ensuring agricultural productivity, but this has often resulted in negative ecological and environmental impacts, including soil degradation and environmental pollution. China’s response was to initiate in 2000, its “green and high-quality strategy for agricultural development”. Implementation of this strategy has resulted in major research and innovation programs focused on ‘Green Agriculture’ designed to promote and advance agricultural productivity and farm incomes in ways that protect and restore agricultural and natural ecosystems in subtropical regions.

　　The 4th International Symposium on Sustainable Agriculture for Subtropical Regions (ISSASR-4) is being held to encourage scientific exchange on the over-arching theme of ‘Ecosystem Management and Agriculture Green Development in Subtropical Regions’. The scientific program will cover strategically important areas including (i) regional resources and ecosystems management for enhancing agricultural productivity, (ii) green crop and animal production and (iii) minimizing the adverse environmental impacts of agricultural production such as pollution and GHG emissions. The developing role of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Farming in agriculture has been identified as a specific topic for the symposium.

　　The ISSASR-4 agenda and list of speakers will focus on the unique attributes of subtropical agriculture. The symposium will also bring together key researchers worldwide to share their knowledge and expertise on how the lessons learned in temperate regions could sustain agricultural development in the tropics.　　

　　1.Theme and Topics 

　　Theme: Ecosystem Management and Agriculture Green Development

　　Topic 1.  Active Management of Resources, Ecosystems and Agricultural Production

　　Session 1.1  Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus (WEFEN)

　　Keynotes and voluntary papers for regional issues and progresses in the WEFEN framework for improving water and energy efficiency and enhancing food security and ecological benefits.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Xianli Xu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Prof. Yue Qin, Peking University, China

　　Prof. Arash Malekian, University of Tehran, Iran

　　Session 1.2 Ecological Processes in the Earth’s Critical Zone (ECZ)

　　Keynote and voluntary papers for issues and progresses in the key processes and interactions in ECZ for optimizing the management of ecosystem, environment and agriculture.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Yunpeng Nie, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Prof. Susanne Schwinning, Texas State University

　　Prof. Hongsong Chen, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Session 1.3 Exploitation in Hybrid Ecological Agriculture in Wetland Areas

　　Keynote and voluntary papers for issues and progresses in the development of the hybrid aquaculture and rice cultivation systems as high income and environmental safe agricultural trails in the wetland areas of subtropical and tropical regions.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Feng Li, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Dr. Ryan Barring, Flinders University　　

　　Session 1.4  Degraded Agroecosystem Restoration and Carbon Neutrality

　　Keynote and voluntary papers for issues and new insights in the restoration process of degraded agroecosystems at different scales in the context of carbon neutrality, land use management, and climate change mitigation.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Wei Zhang, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Prof. Diego Abalos, Aarhus University

　　Prof. Jie Zhao, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Topic 2.  Environmental Regulation and Green Production

　　Session 2.1 Regional Soil and Crop Resource for Green Agricultural Production

　　Keynote and voluntary papers on soil resources, improvement and optimized management for sustainable use, the deep genetic mining of subtropical plant and micro-biome resources, and the innovation in green crop cultivation.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Xiaobin Guo, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Prof. Weiguo Cheng, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Japan

　　Prof. Tida Ge, Ningbo University, China

　　Session 2.2 Soil microbiome and environmental health

　　Keynote and voluntary papers on soil microbiome assembly and bio-functions in regulating nutrient cycling, stabilizing and manipulating soil quality and environmental health, and interactions with crop productivity. 

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Jakob Pernthaler, University of Zurich, Switzerland

　　Prof. Tillmann Lueders, University of Bayreuth, Germany

　　Prof. Baoli Zhu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Session 2.3 Elements cycling in agricultural ecosystems and pollution control

　　Keynote and voluntary papers on the biochemical cycling of the key elements and the remediation of non-point source pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and heavy metal pollution in soil-crop-environment systems.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Nanthi Bolan, School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia

　　Prof. Jianlin Shen, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Qihong Zhu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Topic 3. Green Animal Husbandry and the Completion with Crop production

　　Session 3.1 Physiological metabolism and health of livestock and poultry

　　Keynotes and voluntary papers for the metabolism and physiological functions of nutrients, feed, and gut microbiome, and the nutritional regulation for promoting animal health and product quality.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Fengna Li, Insititute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Shihuan Kuang, Purdue University, United States

　　Prof. Jiangwei Wu, Northwest A&F University, China

　　Session 3.2Precision nutrition and intelligent husbandry

　　Keynotes and voluntary papers for the evaluation of feedstuff nutrition and animal nutrition requirements, precise feed formulation, intelligent feeding management, and other aspects.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Xiangfeng Kong, Insititute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Junjun Wang, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, China

　　Prof. Kola Ajuwon, Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, USA

　　Session 3.3 Farming Waste Resource Utilization and Agropastoral Models

　　Keynotes and voluntary papers for issues and progresses in advanced technologies and models for the resource utilization of farming wastes, including bio-transformations and composting, the production of bio-energy and animal feeding, and other utilization schemes.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Dejun Li, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Dongyang Liu, Nanjing Agricultural University, China

　　Prof. Clayton Butterly, The University of Melbourne, Australia

　　Session 3.4 Precise Farming and GHGs mitigation in Ruminants

　　Keynote and voluntary papers for the precise farming, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and ‘carbon neutrality’ in ruminants, the mitigation strategies in precise diet formulations and feed managements, rumen manipulation, and animal breeding.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Zhongtang Yu, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University,USA

　　Prof. Emilio M. Ungerfeld, Carillanca Regional Research Center, Institute of Agricultural Research, Chile

　　Prof. Min Wang, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Topic 4. Big Data Resources and Smart Agriculture Development

　　Session 4.1 Intelligent Computing for Agricultural Remote Sensing

　　Keynotes and voluntary papers for issues and progresses in the use of big data resources and artificial intelligent technologies for the information monitoring of crop and animal production systems, the systemic planning, design, and processes controlling and management.

　　Conveners

　　Prof. Jiancheng Luo, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Wei Zhao, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

　　Prof. Qian Shi, School of geography and planning, Sun Yat-sen University, China　　

　　The Academic Committee 

　　Guirui Yu, academician, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, China (Chair)

　　Jiankang Zhu, Academician, Southern University of Science and Technology, China

　　Qi Feng, Academician, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, China

　　Yulong Yin, Academician, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, CAS, China

　　A.G. O’Donnell, Murdoch University, Australia

　　András Táncsics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hungary

　　Anil Kumar Anal, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand

　　Arash Malekian, University of Tehran, Iran

　　Chuan He, The University of Chicago, USA

　　Francisco Javier Alcalá, Estación Experimental de Zonas áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain

　　Heriberto Vargas Rodríguez, Agrarian University of Havana, Cuba

　　Jianguang Qin, Flindas University, Australia

　　Jinshui Wu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, CAS, China

　　Joann K. Whalen, McGill University, Canada

　　Lifeng Li, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations

　　Lukasz Chrzanowski, Poznan University of Technology, Poland

　　Martin Nyachoti, University of Manitoba, Canada

　　Shihuan Kuang, Purdue University, USA

　　Susanne Schwinning, Texas State University, USA

　　Sung Woo Kim, North Carolina State University, USA

　　Zhihong Xu, Griffith University, Australia

　　Weiguo Cheng, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Japan　　

　　Organization

　　Lead Organization 

　　Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China　　

　　Partner Organizations 

　　Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS

　　ISA-CAS and UWA Joint Laboratory for Soil Systems Biology

　　Ecological Society of Hunan Province

　　Agricultural Society of Hunan Province　　

　　Organizing Committee 

　　Chairs

　　Professor Jinshui Wu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Professor A.G. O’Donnell, Murdoch University and University of Western Australia

　　Executive Chair

　　Professor Zhiliang Tan, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China

　　Secretary-General

　　Professor Hongsong Chen, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, China　　

　　Sponsors  

　　To be confirmed　　

　　Venue  

　　Changsha Sanjing Whiersly Hotel　　

　　Important Dates 

　　Mar 31, 2024 Deadline for Early-Bird Registration

　　April 30, 2024 Deadline for Abstract Submission

　　Jun 21, 2024 Arrival and Registration

　　Jun 22-23, 2024 Opening Ceremony, Scientific Sessions, Poster Presentation and Closing Ceremony, workshops

　　Jun 24, 2024 Field trip　　

　　Abstract Submission 

　　Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should list the title, the name of author(s) and affiliation. They should be typed with double spacing on A4 size paper using Times New Roman 12 font.

　　Abstracts should be submitted electronically to issasr4@isa.ac.cn. The deadline for receipt is April 30, 2024.　　

　　Registration and fees 

　　Early bird registration：Before March 31, 2024 

　　Student: RMB 1500 Yuan / person (domestic)  $200 / person (abroad) 

　　General: RMB 1800 yuan / person (domestic)  $270 / person (abroad) 

　　Normal registration: April 1-June 21, 2024 

　　Student: RMB 1800 Yuan / person (domestic)  $270 / person (abroad) 

　　General: RMB 2000 yuan / person (domestic)  $300 / person (abroad) 

　　Note: The registration fee should be paid as follows: 

　　Account Information 

　　Contact us

　　Please contact the Secretariat for the registration system, payment, transportation and accommodation, ticketing, cooperation, sponsorship and other matters.

　　conference secretariat: Zhengmiao Deng

　　Tel: + 86 731 84615206 (office)

　　E-mail: issasr4@isa.ac.cn

　　For updates and detailed information, please visit the conference website at https://issasr.casconf.cn/.