International Workshop of Mollisols Conservation (IWMC ’2012), sponsored by Bureau of Science and Technology for Resource and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Key Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was held successfully on August 8, 2012, Harbin, China. This workshop was a follow-up to the International Symposium on Soil Quality and Management of World Mollisols in 2010, Harbin, China and Sino-Ukraine Workshop of Mollisols: Genesis, Properties and Fertility Management in 2011, Kiev, Ukraine.
In the opening session of the workshop, Professor Xiaobing Liu, Deputy Director of Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS, and chairman of the workshop, gave a welcome remark on behalf of the local organization committee. 15 invited scientists presented their keynote speeches in the whole day session. The speakers and titles of the invited speeches were as follows:
Professor Mario Perez Bidegain, Director of Soil Science Institute, National Agricultural University of Uruguay and President of Soil Science Society of Uruguay: Soil erosion risk analysis of South American Mollisols using the WEPP model
Professor Xingyi Zhang, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS: Soil erosion and its conservation
Professor Makoto Kimura, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan; Former president of Soil Science Society of Japan: Gully Erosion and its Control by Plantation in Kisumu District, Western Kenya
Dr. Yuriy Kravchenko, Deputy Director of Crop and Soil Science Institute, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine: Mollisols Conservation Policy and Practices in Ukraine
Professor Jingyi Yang, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Harrow Research Centre, Canada: Modelling soil water and temperature dynamics under conventional and conservation tillage and maize-soybean rotation system in Black soil in Northeast China
Professor Lee Burras, Department of Agronomy, Department of Geology, Iowa State University, USA: The Pedology of Modern Mollisols in Iowa and the central USA
Professor Bin Zhang and Professor Xiaozeng Han, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS: Soil development experiment in Hailun: Can we design a soil?
Professor Anatoliy Balaiev, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine: Chernozems Fertility Reproduction under Conservation Technologies
Professor Tusheng Ren, Chinese Agricultural University, China: Progress in measuring soil evaporation with the heat-pulse method
Dr. Adefunke Temitayo Adekunle, Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Nigeria: Nigeria: Agro-ecological Zones and Agriculture
Professor William R. Horwáth, University of California at Davis, USA: Defining microbial community controls on the stabilization of soil carbon
Professor Jinshui Wu, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, CAS: Roles of soil microorganisms in soil carbon and nutrient cycling
Professor Valeriy Havrylyuk, Director of Science–Technological Center, Soil Fertility Protection and Quality of Products, Ukraine: Agrochemical Service, Khmelnytsky region
Professor Guanghua Wang, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS: Seasonal variations of soil microbial biomass C, enzyme activity and microbial community structure in cultivated and natural restored Mollisols
Dr. Maxim Havryliuk, Science–Technological Center, Soil Fertility Protection and Quality of Products, Ukraine: Black soil Khmelnitsky region and their current state
More than 140 professionals and graduate students from local departments, institutes and universities actively participated in the workshop and shared their experiences and knowledge on the theory and practices for soil conservation with emphasis on Mollisols in soil health improvement, water and nutrient cycling, crop residue and watershed management etc.
The workshop has strengthened academic exchanges among scientists in World Mollisols regions, and will provide a science-oriented support for future conservation and utilization of Chinese Mollisols.
As a leading institution and current headquarter of World Mollisols Association, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS together with National Agricultural University of Uruguay is planning to organize International Workshop of Mollisols Productivity in September 2014, Uruguay.
