Through a growing network of science and technology backyards, students and researchers living and working in villages are not only helping individual farmers solve technical problems but are also providing integrated services to family farms, cooperatives and agricultural service companies.

These backyards are emerging as a new force linking scientific research with a wide range of agricultural operators, supporting modern agricultural management and rural vitalization.

The science and technology backyard program was first launched in Quzhou in 2009 by Zhang Fusuo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at China Agricultural University. The initiative deploys postgraduate students specializing in agriculture to rural areas, where they live alongside farmers and help solve practical production problems.

Over the years, the program has evolved into a platform that integrates scientific innovation, social services and talent training.

At a recent conference in Quzhou county, Hebei province, China Agricultural University unveiled a three-year action plan to strengthen links between the nationwide science and technology backyard network and new agricultural business entities.

Spanning from 2026 to 2028, the plan aims to establish regular coordination mechanisms to provide targeted technical support and services to large-scale farming operators and surrounding households. By 2028, more than 100 science and technology backyards are expected to work with key grain and oil production entities monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

According to Zhang Weifeng, head of the Quzhou experimental station of China Agricultural University, traditional approaches to agricultural education efforts that promoted technologies from household to household were often inefficient.

"Now, the science and technology backyards first help new agricultural business entities adopt the technologies. When surrounding farmers see good results, they are more willing to follow," he said.

Drawing on local experience, the Quzhou station has developed a service model that combines scientific expertise, science and technology backyard teams, modern agricultural business entities and ordinary farming households.

The approach is designed to turn scientific research into practical solutions for green, high-yield farming while improving the efficiency of agricultural social services.

Major policy documents in recent years have repeatedly stressed the importance of building convenient and efficient agricultural social service systems to better connect small farmers with modern agriculture.

The outline of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) calls for developing appropriately scaled agricultural operations, improving the quality of new agricultural business entities and enhancing agricultural social services. This year's No 1 Central Document — China's annual key rural policy statement — also emphasizes strengthening the capabilities of family farms and farmer cooperatives.

The 16 science and technology backyards in Quzhou are now serving as testing grounds for technologies and business models tailored to different agricultural operators.

In 2023, Ye Songlin, a master's student at the Quzhou science and technology backyard, together with three classmates, leased 67 hectares of farmland through loans and began providing agricultural services to nearby major grain producers.

Their business has since expanded into smart agriculture services, integrating agricultural machinery, farming inputs, agronomic expertise and digital information technologies. "I used to guide farmers on how to operate. Now I literally work with them and help them improve yields," Ye said.

Beyond grain production, students from China Agricultural University are also exploring diversified rural business models.

Fu Shan, a graduate of the Quzhou science and technology backyard, and her team developed locally produced high-gluten flour and launched a bread brand in Quzhou. Other postgraduate students have worked with villagers to establish organic fertilizer plants, while some have developed cultural and creative products centered on the science and technology backyard brand and traditional grains.

Zhang Weifeng said the backyards are not only building demonstration models but are also cultivating a new generation of agricultural service providers.

"While science and technology backyards are building demonstration models, they are also bringing together and training a group of people to work together," he said."Once this group grows, they will be able to provide better services to other farmers as well."

Reporter: Zhao Yimeng