he 29th Excellent Agricultural Education and Extension Award (2022) — Agricultural Teaching and Extension Achievement of Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung

Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung is a full-time faculty at the Department of Phytopathology and Microbiology at National Taiwan University (NTU) since 2000. He is the current director of “Plant Teaching Hospital”, and the director of “The Research Center for Plant Medicine”. Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung served as the chairman of “The Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology”from 2019 to 2022. He has made outstanding contributions to teaching, research and social services. In 2011, he assisted in the establishment of the "NTU Master Program for Plant Medicine ". In 2018, he establish the "NTU Plant Teaching Hospital", and devoted himself to the education and promotion of "plant protection" and "plant medicine" in Taiwan. Professor Hung served as an "Agricultural Extension Professor" at the College of Bioresources and Agriculture, NTU for more than 10 years. He has been going to the countryside for a long time to provide instant "pest diagnosis and identification services" for farmers and gained a high reputation among farmers in Taiwan. Professor Hung is an expert on fruit tree diseases, especially in the research on the most famous plant epidemic in the world - citrus Huanglongbing (HLB). He has been working on HLB for more than 30 years and his excellent research outcomes have been recognized worldwide. In addition to publishing many important international research articles, the rapid diagnostic techniques and control strategies developed by Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung are unrivalled in the world and widely approved by many countries. Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung is recognized as one of the pioneers in HLB research and has been providing his guidance and sharing his expertise with young plant pathologists mainly in Asia and America. Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung’s outstanding academic as well as diplomatic achievements have greatly influenced to increase Taiwan's international visibility.
 
In 2018, in order to implement the localized services at the "Yunlin Campus" of the College of Bioresources and Agriculture, NTU, Professor Hung established "Plant Teaching Hospital Yunlin Branch, NTU" in Yunlin and executed a multi-year cooperation project with the Yunlin County Government. At the same, he dispatched "plant doctors" to serve long-term on-site services and formed a consultant team including multidisciplinary professors as a backing to provide professional plant epidemic prevention and cultivation techniques, which the county government and farmers have highly recognized. At present, in amalgamation with the "Reserve Plant Doctor Program" promoted by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung and his research group have established a complete farmer service network including eight full-time plant doctors in Yunlin County. Furthermore, this joint project cooperated with the government's pesticide reduction policy to implement precise pest diagnosis and identification services and provide accurate prescriptions to assist farmers in effectively preventing and controlling pests and diseases, and also protect the health of consumers. In recent years, with the guidance of Professor Ting-Hsuan Hung NTU's plant medical services have been extended to Yilan County and Northern Taiwan to benefit more farmers around Taiwan.

Prof. Ting-Hsuan Hung (right) won the 29th Excellent Agricultural Education and Extension Award, and the award was presented by Tian-Shou Chen, vice chairman of the Council of Agriculture.