Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) won four grand prizes at the 14th Hubei Challenge Cup College Student Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, highlighting student innovation in modern agriculture and food technology.

The provincial final was held from June 6 to 7 at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Fifteen HZAU teams from 10 colleges reached the final, winning four grand prizes, seven first prizes, four second prizes and four third prizes. The university also received a Winners' Cup.

All four grand-prize projects came from the modern agriculture and food technology track. They focused on high-yield, high-protein maize suitable for machine harvesting; a green solution for mixed livestock and poultry infections based on broad-spectrum protease; the world's first tomato SNP breeding chip; and an ecological breeding system for Yangtze River coilia, a kind of anchovy long feted as a culinary delicacy in China.

The projects reflect HZAU's research strengths in crop breeding, animal health, horticulture and fisheries, turning laboratory achievements into entrepreneurial plans with potential industrial applications.

At the closing ceremony, Liu Zhitian, secretary of the Hubei provincial committee of the Communist Youth League, encouraged students to "ignite their entrepreneurial dreams with youthful passion" and serve Hubei's modernization through innovation.

The contest covered eight competition tracks overall. This year's provincial competition attracted 1,884 projects from 126 universities, with 571 reaching the final. The national final is scheduled for November at Dalian University of Technology.

HZAU teachers and students at the provincial Challenge Cup final. [Photo/new.hzau.edu.cn]