For the first time in China, Researcher Yang Qichang of the Institute of Urban Environment has been awarded the International Society for Horticultural Science’s highest academic honor.

Recently, at the 32nd International Horticultural Congress (IHC2026) held in Kyoto, Japan, Researcher Yang Qichang from the Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was awarded the ISHS’s highest academic honor—the Fellow Award, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the global field of horticultural engineering.

Researcher Yang Qichang has long been dedicated to innovation in facility horticulture engineering. He has achieved numerous significant breakthroughs in areas such as plant light‑recipe theory and methodologies, intelligent LED‑based plant factories, greenhouse energy‑saving technologies, and crop breeding accelerators. As the primary contributor, he has received two Second-Class National Science and Technology Progress Awards, one China Patent Gold Award, and the Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award. He has also published over 130 high‑impact papers in journals including Nature Communications, Molecular Plant, and Engineering. He has spearheaded the establishment of international cooperation platforms such as the China–Romania Belt and Road Joint Laboratory and the China–Netherlands Joint Research Center for Facility Horticulture. In addition, he has served as Chair of both the ISHS Committee on Greenhouse Engineering and the Committee on Intelligent Plant Production Systems, promoting the widespread application of his technological advances in more than 20 countries and making substantial contributions to the global facility horticulture industry.

It is worth noting that the ISHS is the most authoritative academic organization in the global horticultural sciences. Its Fellow Award is the society’s highest honor, bestowed every four years to recognize distinguished scientists whose long‑term, original work has had a profound and far‑reaching international impact on horticultural science. Widely regarded by the international scientific community as the “Nobel Prize of Horticulture,” this award marks the first time a Chinese scientist has been honored since its inception in 2002.

Source: Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences