From Aug 5 to Aug 6, 2019, Andrew L. Neal of the Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom visited FIRI for academic visits and exchanges at the invitation of the research teams of safety utilization of unconventional water resources and optimal allocation and regulation technique of agricultural water resources. Andrew L. Neal expressed his will to further strengthen cooperation through the exchange visit.

First, the researchers led Andrew to visit the phytotron, high-standard solar greenhouse, infiltration lysimeter and other facilities of the Hongmen Experimental Station, and introduced the test settings and measurement indexes. Andrew suggested strengthening the research on the effects of irrigation methods on soil structure and microorganisms. Subsequently, Andrew gave a report in the institute entitled "Organic carbon, pore-scale and hydraulic conductivity and long-term nitrogen use efficiency in arable soil", introducing the Highfield and Broadbalk, the long-term positioning tests of Rothamsted Research, the effects of different fertilization treatment on soil structure and soil structure and soil microbial activities, focusing on the importance of organic carbon addition to maintaining the structure and function of farmland soil and the sustainable development of soil. After the report, Andrew had in-depth exchanges with researchers and expressed his will to further strengthen cooperation. The researchers present said that they not only learned the frontiers of related professional research, but also benefited a lot in the organic combination of macroscopic and microscopic research, applied research and basic research, and multidisciplinary collaboration from the report.

Andrew is expert at the analysis of soil microbial metagenomics and macrotranscriptome data. He is mainly engaged in the study of macroelements metabolism and self-regulation in the soil-plant-microbe complex system, proving the close relationship between soil physical structure and microbial metabolism and revealing that horizontal gene transfer plays an important role in key functions of microorganisms such as maintaining crops and obtaining nutrients and soil sustainability.