The construction management office of the Wuhan National Modern Agricultural Industry Sci-Tech Innovation Center is unveiled on May 8. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

The construction management office of the Wuhan National Modern Agricultural Industry Sci-Tech Innovation Center was unveiled in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC) on May 8.

Provincial and municipal officials from agricultural departments, Zhang Yongqiang, director of the valley's administrative committee, and Chen Huanchun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Wuhan Keqian Biology Co, participated in the unveiling ceremony.

The Wuhan National Modern Agricultural Industry Sci-Tech Innovation Center is the fifth such center in the nation and the only of its kind in the Central China. Founded in December 2020, it focuses on the research of biological seed treatments, animal biological products and agricultural health, and is striving to become a hub for agricultural research, achievements, talent and enterprises. The center has accumulated 11 academicians and set up 12 key laboratories.

The establishment of the construction management office will promote the implementation of market-based mechanisms, which will effectively push forward agricultural technology innovation and transfer, talent incentives, and industry cultivation.

OVC has brought in or nurtured more than 700 agricultural companies, recruited over 70 professional agricultural personnel, and is currently home to three State-level engineering research centers. Many cutting-edge agricultural achievements, such as the world’s first test-tube lotus root, the highly effective vaccines for animals, originated in the valley.