1957, March 1

While the academic output of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is certainly impressive (some 6000 research reports per year), the practical value of its research is often questioned. Experts have estimated that only 30 to 40 percent of the research reports are accessible to the public. In fact, the great majority of the farmers have little interest in the Academy's research results. They are often purely theoretical with little relevance for actual farming.
With the economic reforms in the 1980s, pressure is increasing to establish and improve agricultural extension services, which have greatly increased agricultural productivity in Europe or the United States of America. These services require much more practical and market-oriented agricultural research.

Literature:

Ash, Robert (1992): The agricultural sector in China: Performance and policy dilemmas during the 1990s. In: China Quarterly, Vol. 131, (September), 545-576

Schwarzwlder, Brian (2003): A quiet revolution begings: Reinventing China's farms. South China Morning Post, Insight: Landreform

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