Profile

Leading Eucommia scientist; built the world’s largest gene bank and pioneered orchard-style cultivation.

Story

Fittingly, the modern leader who lifted the Eucommia industry also bears the surname “Du”. Since 1986, Du Hongyan has spent over three decades collecting 2,000-plus accessions across 27 Chinese provinces and from Japan and the U.S., building the world’s largest Eucommia gene bank and core collection.

In 1995 he bred the first Eucommia cultivars “Huazhong 1—5”, ending China’s long lack of improved varieties; he then pioneered orchard-style cultivation, raising fruit and rubber yields tens-fold. He led the fine-scale Eucommia genome map, proposed whole-tree utilization, created products such as male-flower tea, and edits the Eucommia Industry Green Paper. His team’s nationally certified cultivars supply improved seedlings to over 90% of China’s Eucommia bases.

Milestones

• 30+ years of germplasm collection across 27 provinces, Japan and the U.S. since 1986
• Bred “Huazhong 1—5” in 1995, ending China’s lack of improved varieties
• Work featured 16 times on China Central Television
• Propagated ~200M improved seedlings (95% grafting success) for 90%+ of national bases
• Co-winner, 2025 National S&T Progress Award (2nd Prize)

Key Contributions

• Built the world’s largest Eucommia gene bank (2,000+ accessions)
• Bred the first “Huazhong” cultivar series
• Pioneered orchard-style cultivation (tens-fold yield gains)
• Led the fine-scale Eucommia genome map
• Deputy chair & secretary-general, Eucommia branch, China Economic Forest Assoc.
• Editor-in-chief, Eucommia Industry Green Paper