Authors: | Date：2013-10-10 11:33:00

The College of Horticulture was established in July, 2000 with the merging of the Department of Horticulture of the former NWAU, Shaanxi Provincial Institute for Fruit Trees and Shaanxi Provincial Institute for Vegetables and Flowers. Its history can trace back to the National Gardening Group of the Northwest Agricultural College founded in 1934 and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute for Fruit Trees and Shaanxi Provincial Institute for Vegetables and Flowers both established in 1958.

The college has the level-1 doctoral degree programs for horticulture with a mobile post-doctoral research station and 7 level-2 doctoral and master degree programs for pomology, olericulture, tea science, horticultural germplasm resources, the viticulture and enology (located in College of Enology), protected horticultural engineering and ornamental plants and horticulture. Meanwhile this college admits teachers from Secondary Vocational Schools to study for master's degree. There is 1 key state-level discipline in pomology, and 3 key Shaanxi Provincial level ones in pomology, vegetable study and tea science,2 undergraduate programs in horticulture and Protected Horticultural Engineering and Science, 9 scientific research or academic organizations, which embrace the key laboratory of Horticultural  Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement in the Northwest, Ministry of Agriculture, the National Persimmon Germplasm resources garden, the Shaanxi Provincial Protected Agriculture Engineering Center, the Shaanxi Provincial Apple Engineering Center, the Shaanxi Provincial Fruit Tree Institute, the Shaanxi Provincial Flower and Vegetable Institute, the Shaanxi Provincial Gardening Society, the Apple Research center and the Tea Research Institute, the Northwest A&F University. The college consists of 5 teaching departments: the Fruit Tree Department, the Vegetable Department, the Ornamental Horticulture Department, the Protected Agricultural Science and Engineering Department and the Post harvest Processing Department, and 1 laboratory center for horticulture housing 3 labs covering Horticultural Breeding and Biological Technology, Horticultural Cultivation and Protected Horticulture and Post harvest Processing (including 27 sub-branches), with 2000 instruments and equipment, totaling over 21 million Yuan in value, and a collection of more than 12,000 breeding samples for fruits, vegetables and flowers. The college owns 25 experimental demonstration bases, including the Apple Demonstration Base in Baishui County, the Kiwifruit Base in Meixian County, the Tea Base in Xixiang County, the Bases of Sweet melon and Vegetable in Yangliang County, the Xin Tiandi Facility Agriculture Park, the horticultural Specimen Garden, Vegetable Farm, etc..

Of which apple variety Qinguan won the 2nd Grade of National Award for Technological Invention, Ten Thousand mu Dwarf Type Apple Cultivation (Orchid) in Meixian County completed in 1991 obtained the 4th prize of the State Sparkle Plan, the construction of National Fruit Germplasm Repository and the Extension of High-yield Resistant Quality Pepper Variety 8212 ended in 1993 obtained the 2nd and 3rd Grade of State Scientific and Technological Progress Award respectively, Breeding of Chinese Cabbage Male Sterile Line Series completed in 1996 attained 3rd Grade of National Award for Technological Invention, Breeding Method Innovation in F1 Watermelon and Breeding & Extension of Xinong No. 8 Cultivar finished in 2001 received 2nd  Grade of State Scientific and Technological Progress Award. Breeding and Extension of Qinbai Series of Chinese Cabbage Variety with Fine Quality, Multi-Resistance and High Yield was awarded 2nd Grade of State Scientific and Technological Progress Award.