Professor Mao Zhi is an expert in irrigation and drainage engineering and is a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering. He focuses on the research and development of water-saving irrigation. The water-saving irrigation method developed by him is of profound academic value and has been applied for 1,660,000 hectares of farmland with an increase of 274,000 tons of grains and reduction of 1.3 billion cubic meters of water. He was awarded the second prize for the National Award for Technology advancement. In 2000, Mao Zhi won the “Outstanding Contribution Award for Technology innovation in International Agricultural Water Saving Irrigation”.