The research team led by Prof. Wang Tianyu at the Institute of Crop Sciences of CAAS studied the epidemic occurrence of northern leaf blight, southern leaf blight, sheath blight, and stalk rot in the main maize production areas of China, clarified the response characteristics of maize growth and development to drought stress, and tackled the difficulties of low accurate evaluation of disease and drought resistance by innovating precise identification techniques. They performed the dissection of the major-effect QTL related to disease resistance, drought resistance, and yield, developed new techniques for heterotic classification, and established a highly efficient technology system for maize germplasm improvement. The research team constructed the Ecological-Breeding Model (EBM) for maize by combining the directional testcross and directional selection.22 new hybrid varieties have been developed, of which 18 showed outstanding disease resistance, eight revealed excellent drought resistance, 17 exceeded the control yield by more than 8% in the regional test of maize, and three were selected as the controls in the regional test. The new hybrid varieties developed by the research team have been planted 12.67 million ha. Moreover, using the elite germplasm released by this team, other organizations have developed at least 94 new hybrid varieties, planted 25.33 million ha, and achieved significant economic, social, and ecological benefits.

Prof. Wang Tianyu carried out the field identification of elite maize germplasm for disease resistance and drought resistance