The College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences was established in February 2002 via the two departments: The Department of Horticulture and The Department of Forestry Sciences. The history of the college can be traced back to the branch of the Department of Agricultural Sciences of Hubei Province in 1904 and the Department of Horticulture of the Hubei Provincial Agricultural College in 1940. The college has weathered the ups and downs over the past 100 years as China went through the turbulent years. It has made great contributions to the education and training of outstanding horticulturists, foresters, and landscape architects and to the scientific and technological progress in horticulture and forestry of China.
The College has 173 full-time members, including 145 faculty teacher. There are 6 departments including Pomology, Olericulture, Landscape Gardening, Landscape Architecture, Forestry Science, and Tea Science. The college has three first-level disciplines, Horticulture, Forestry Science, and Landscape Architecture. Horticulture and Landscape Architecture are the key first-level disciplines in Hubei Province. In addition, Pomology Science is a national key discipline, and Olericulture Science is a national key discipline (cultivation). Garden plants and Ornamental gardening are key disciplines of the former Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In the third round of national assessment, Horticulture ranked first in the country. In the fourth round of national assessment, Horticulture was awarded A+, and Landscape Architecture was awarded B+. Horticulture was admitted to the national “The double-first class” disciplines in 2017.
The College has 6 undergraduate majors in Horticulture, Forestry Science, Landscape Gardening, Landscape Architecture, Tea Science and Controlled Environmental Agriculture Science & Engineering. Among them, Horticulture and Landscape Gardening are the national specialty construction point, national excellent agricultural and forestry talent plan; Landscape Architecture and Forestry Science are the Hubei Province brand professional, selected as a pilot project for comprehensive reform in Hubei Province. Controlled Environmental Agriculture Science & Engineering is selected into the strategic emerging (pillar) industry talent training plan of Hubei Province. The college hosts one postdoctoral research stations for Horticulture, 2 doctoral degree awarding first-level disciplines, 3 master's degree awarding first-level disciplines, and 3 professional master's degree awarding first-level disciplines. Untill April 2020, the college has 1682 full-time undergraduate students, 688 postgraduates, 273 doctoral students, and 49 international students.
Our aims are: building a first-class multi-disciplinary, research-oriented college at the national level and key disciplines at the world-class level. Our tasks are cultivating top-notch innovative talents with international vision, carrying out first class scientific research, to provide social and cultural heritage, and promoting international cooperation and exchanges. The overall strength and level of the College in education and scientific research have jumped to the forefront of similar agricultural colleges in China.