The College of Animal Science and Technology traces its origin back to 1913 when Henan Public Agricultural Specialized School established the preparatory classes in sericulture. Over the years, it underwent several name changes due to the alteration of the administrative subordination relationship, successively evolving into the Department of Agricultural Animal Husbandry at the National Fifth Sun Yat-sen University, Department of the Animal Husbandry in the College of Agriculture at the Provincial Henan University, Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine at Henan Agricultural College, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and finally, in June 2020, it became the independent College of Animal Science and Technology of Henan Agricultural University.

The college comprises five teaching units: (i) Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, (ii) Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, (iii) Department of Animal Production and Intelligent Animal Husbandry Science and Engineering, (iv) Department of Aquaculture and Economic Animal Husbandry, and (v) the Experimental Teaching Center for the Animal Science program. Additionally, the collage is granted one provincial key discipline for special and urgent needs within the provincial modern animal husbandry discipline group, one level-I provincial-level key discipline of animal husbandry, and four Level-II provincial key disciplines in animal nutrition and feed sciences, animal genetics, breeding and reproduction etc. The college has three on-campus training centers, such as the Center for Poultry Germplasm Resources Conservation and Utilization and the Dairy Research Farm, and over fifty off-campus training bases in partnerships with Muyuan Foods Co., Ltd. and Charoen Pokphand Group etc. The college boasts seven provincial-level or higher teaching platforms, including but not limited to the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center in Animal Science, the National Training-Education Base for graduate students in Agriculture Professional Master Programs, the Henan-Provincial Key Industry College for Modern Intelligent Animal Husbandry Science and the Henan-provincial specialization college for livestock breeding. The college also has 14 national and provincial research platforms such as the Key Laboratory for Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the key Laboratory for Evaluation of and Utilization of livestock (poultry) resources of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Animal Husbandry in Henan Province, and the Innovative research entity with Joint Muyuan Industry Research Institute. The college has led 47 major national and provincial research projects over the past five years, securing an average annual research funding of over 12 million yuan from National Natural Science Foundation of China, National “863” Program of China, National Key Research and Development Program Projects. It has been awarded 18 national, provincial and ministerial-level research prizes, including the National Technology Invention Award and the National Scientific and Technological Progress Award, and obtains over 100 authorized invention patents.

The college currently has 93 faculty and staff, of whom, 75 hold a doctoral degree, 81 are full-time faculty members. There are 6 teams leading in research and technology innovations, one of which has been recognized as a national innovation team for research and development by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and three of which are recognized by the Henan Provincial Government. In addition,  there are one Henan Province Teaching Innovation Team and one Provincial Huang-Danian-style Teaching Team. Among the faculty, there is one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one Youth Scholar of the Changjiang Scholar program of the Ministry of Education, one Shennong Young Talent Scholar of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, one Zhongyuan Scholar of Henan Province, three staffs are designated as scientists in China’s National Modern Agriculture Industrial Technology System, two provincial distinguished professors, and four provincial academic and technical leaders.

The college has one Level-I program authorized for granting doctoral degrees, four Level-II programs authorized for granting doctoral degrees, one Level-I program authorized for granting master degrees, and two programs authorized for granting professional master degrees. It offers undergraduate programs in Animal Science, Aquaculture, Smart Animal Husbandry Science and Engineering, and Feed Engineering, with the Animal Science program being recognized as a national top-notch undergraduate program. The college currently hosts 1,059 undergraduate students and 278 postgraduate students. It has established collaborations and partnerships with universities such as the University of New England in Australia, and Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Students of the college have excelled in various competitions, winning more than 50 awards in the Challenge Cup National University Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, the National Competition of Animal Science Professional Skills, and the Aquarium Landscaping Competition. Over ten generous enterprises have installed scholarships (or financial aid) in the college, with a cumulative amount exceeding two million yuan. The employment rate for our graduates has consistently remained above 90%, and the share of our graduates pursuing graduat studies is above 55%.