On Aug 15, the 2026 Microbial Pesticide Industry Alumni Development Forum was held at the International Academic Exchange Center of Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU). Over 240 alumni representatives from universities, research institutes, and industry leaders nationwide returned to campus to discuss cutting-edge research, industrial opportunities, and collaborative innovation in microbial pesticides.
Party secretary Yao Jianglin delivered a speech, fully affirming the research team's achievements over the past forty years. He noted that as China enters the critical opening stage of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), bio-manufacturing has emerged as a new economic growth engine. Microbial pesticides serve as a core technological pillar for green agricultural transformation and food security, benefiting from major breakthroughs, favorable policies, and market expansion. He emphasized that the university has built distinctive disciplinary advantages, including the world's largest insecticidal microbial resource library and the first comprehensive insecticidal protein gene repository.
Looking forward, Yao outlined three hopes for faculty and alumni: advancing organized cross-disciplinary research for high-value innovations, forging a robust development community between the university and industry, and serving national agricultural modernization.
During the academic and industrial exchange sessions, multiple experts and alumni delivered presentations covering synthetic biology, microbial resources, and genomic evolution. Alumni expressed their commitment to bridging industry-academia-research barriers, accelerating the transformation of scientific achievements into new quality productive forces, and jointly contributing to China's agricultural green development and the construction of a strong agricultural nation.

Over 240 alumni representatives gather at the HZAU for the 2026 Microbial Pesticide Industry Alumni Development Forum [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]

Party secretary Yao Jianglin delivers a welcoming speech. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]

Professor Sun Ming delivers welcoming remarks on behalf of the microbial pesticide research team. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]