The Department of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests of the Central Agricultural Laboratory, the predecessor of the Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS), was established in 1931, mainly focusing on basic and applied research on the occurrence rules of pests, diseases and weeds, along with green control technology. Our work extends to crops such as rice, wheat, cotton, fruit trees, and vegetables in Jiangsu and throughout China.

The Institute has ten research teams respectively engaged in dryland farming diseases, plant viruses, pests of industrial crop and bio-control, plant bacteria and bio-control, rice pests, weeds and pesticides and rice diseases. Since the “13th Five-Year Plan”, the scientific research at the Institute has continued to develop, with the research area constantly expanded and the comprehensive strength significantly enhanced. The Institute has been granted nearly 100 new state-level research projects, including 17 national key R&D program projects, 3 public welfare industry special projects, 2 major special projects for transgenic technologies, and 51 natural science foundation projects, with the research funding of more than RMB 100 million. The Institute has also obtained over ten awards, including 2 second prizes of State Science and Technology Progress Award, 1 first prize of China Agricultural Science and Technology Award, 2 second prizes of China Agricultural Science and Technology Award, and 2 first prizes of Jiangsu Science and Technology Award. The Institute has applied for 187 patents, with 54 granted; formulated 7 national and industry standards; published143 SCI papers , of which 8 had an impact factor (IF) of above 10.

The Institute is also home to five research platforms: Scientific Observing and Experimental Station for Crop Pests (Nanjing), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Identification Station of Rice, Wheat and Cotton Registered Traits (Jiangsu), Jiangsu Plant Diseases Diagnosis and Testing Service, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for Integrated Control Technology of Grain, Cotton, and Oil Crop Diseases, Pests and Weeds, Jiangsu Bio-pesticide Engineering Technology Research Center.