Law of China on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology (2012 Amendment)

· Document Number：Order No.60 of the President of the People's Republic of China

· Area of Law： Agriculture

· Level of Authority： Laws

· Date issued：08-31-2012

· Effective Date：07-02-1993

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Law of China on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology
(Adopted at the 2nd Session of the Eighth National People's Congress on July 2, 1993; amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology adopted at the 28th session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on August 31, 2012)
Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions 
Chapter II System of Agricultural Technology Popularization 
Chapter III Popularization and Application of Agricultural Technology 
Chapter IV Safeguards for Agricultural Technology Popularization 
Chapter V Legal Liability 
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions 
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in order to strengthening the work of agricultural technology popularization, enabling the prompt application of results of agricultural scientific research and practical techniques to agricultural production, reinforcing the supporting and safeguarding roles of science and technology, promoting the sustainable development of agriculture and rural economy and realizing the modernization of agriculture.
Article 2 For the purposes of this law, “agricultural technology” means scientific research results and practical techniques applied to planting, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, including:
(1)techniques for cultivation of good strains of plants, planting, application of fertilizers, and animal breeding;
(2)techniques for preventing and controlling plant diseases and peats, epidemic diseases of animals and other harmful organisms;
(3)techniques for harvesting, processing, packaging, storing and transporting agricultural products;
(4)techniques for ensuring the safe use of agricultural inputs and the quality and safety of agricultural products;
(5)techniques for farmland irrigation, water supply and drainage in rural areas, soil improvement, and water and soil conservation;
(6)techniques for agricultural mechanization, agricultural aviation, agricultural meteorology and agricultural information;
(7)techniques for the prevention and mitigation of agricultural disasters, the safety of agricultural resources and agricultural ecology, and the rural energy development and utilization; and
(8)other agricultural techniques.
For the purpose of this law “popularization of agricultural technology” means popularization and application of agricultural technology to the entire process of agricultural production, including the processes before, during and after production of experiment, demonstration, training, guidance and consultation services.
Article 3 The state shall support the popularization of agricultural technology, accelerate the popularization and application of agricultural technology, and develop high-yield, quality, efficient, eco-friendly and safe agriculture.
Article 4 The following principles shall be observed in the popularization of agricultural technology:
(1)conducive to the sustainable development of agriculture and rural economy and the increase of farmers' income;
(2)respecting the will of agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations.
(3) adopting measures suitable to local conditions after experimentation and demonstration;
(4) categorized management of non-profit popularization and for-profit popularization;
(5) considering both economic and social benefits and paying attention to ecological benefits.
Article 5 The state shall encourage and support scientific and technical personnel to develop, popularize and apply advanced agricultural technology, encourage and support agricultural laborers and organizations to apply advanced agricultural technology.
The state shall encourage the application of modern information technologies and other advanced means of dissemination to popularize knowledge of agricultural science and technology, innovate in the modes and methods for popularizing agricultural technology and improve popularization efficiency.
Article 6 The state shall encourage and support the introduction of advanced agricultural technology from foreign countries and promote the international cooperation and exchanges of the popularization of agricultural technology.
Article 7 People's governments at various levels shall strengthen their leadership in the work of the popularization of agricultural technology and organize the relevant departments and entities to take measures for improving the service level in the popularization of agricultural technology and promoting the development of the popularization of agricultural technology.
Article 8 The entities and individuals that have made contributions to the work of agricultural technology popularization shall be awarded.
Article 9 The agriculture, forestry, water and other departments of the State Council (hereinafter together referred to as “agricultural technology popularization departments”) shall be responsible for the relevant work on agricultural technology popularization in the whole country according to their respective functions. The agricultural technology popularization departments of a local people's government at or above the county level shall, under the leadership of the people's government at the corresponding level, be responsible for the relevant work on agricultural technology popularization within their administrative region according to their respective functions. The department of science and technology of the people's government at the same level shall provide guidance for work on agricultural technology popularization. Other relevant departments of the people's government at the same level shall be responsible for the relevant work on agricultural technology popularization according to their respective functions.
Chapter II System of Agricultural Technology Popularization
Article 10 In agricultural technology popularization, a popularization system, which combines state agricultural technology popularization institutions with agricultural scientific research institutes, relevant schools, farmers' specialized cooperatives, agriculture-related enterprises, mass organizations for science and technology, and farmer technicians, shall be adopted.
The state shall encourage and support supply and marketing cooperatives, other enterprises and institutions, social organizations, and scientific and technical personnel in all walks of life to provide agricultural technology popularization services.
Article 11 State agricultural technology popularization institutions at all levels, as public service institutions, shall perform the following public functions:
(1)Introducing and conducting experiment and demonstration for key agricultural techniques determined by the people's governments at all levels;
(2)Monitoring, forecasting and preventing plant diseases and pests, epidemic diseases of animals and agricultural disasters;
(3)Providing consulting and technical services for inspection, testing and monitoring in the production of agricultural products;
(4)Monitoring the safety of agricultural resources, forest resources and agricultural ecology and the use of agricultural inputs;
(5)Providing technical services for water resources management, flood control and drought relief, and construction of farmland irrigation works;
(6)Providing publicity, education and training services for agricultural public information and agricultural technology;
(7)Other functions as set forth by laws and regulations.
Article 12 Under the principle of scientific and reasonable distribution and concentration of efforts, county, township or regional state agricultural technology popularization institutions shall be established according to the local agricultural characteristics, forest resources, water systems and irrigation facility distribution of counties.
Township state agricultural technology popularization institutions may be administered mainly by the agricultural technology popularization departments of the people's governments at the county level or be administered mainly by the people's governments at the township level with service guidance from the agricultural technology popularization departments of the people's governments at the county level, and the specific manner shall be decided by the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.
Article 13 The number of staff of state agricultural technology popularization institutions shall be reasonably determined according to the planting and breeding scales in their service areas as well as service scopes and tasks of such institutions to ensure their performance of public duties.
The positions in state agricultural technology popularization institutions shall, mostly, be specialized technical positions. In township state agricultural technology popularization institutions, positions shall be all specialized technical positions; in county-level state agricultural technology popularization institutions, specialized technical positions shall account for 80% of all positions at a minimum; and in other state agricultural technology popularization institutions, specialized technical positions shall account for 70% of all positions at a minimum.
Article 14 Specialized technical personnel of state agricultural technology popularization institutions shall have corresponding specialized technical abilities and meet the requirements of their positions.
Specialized technical personnel newly employed by state agricultural technology popularization institutions shall have an associate college degree or above in the relevant specialty and have passed the specialized technical examinations organized by the relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the county level. In autonomous counties, ethnic townships, and especially poverty-stricken adjacent areas determined by the state, with the approval of the relevant departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, persons with technical secondary school education in the relevant specialty or other persons with the relevant specialized technical abilities may be employed.
The state shall encourage graduates from institutions of higher learning and scientific and technological personnel to engage in agricultural technology popularization at the basic level. The people's governments at all levels shall take measures to gather human resources to enrich and strengthen the agricultural technology popularization teams at the basic level.
Article 15 The state shall encourage and support agricultural technology popularization conducted by village agricultural technical service stations and farmer technicians. According the relevant provisions, subsidies shall be offered to farmer technicians who assist in public agricultural technology popularization activities.
Corresponding technical titles and certificates may be conferred on farmer technicians who meet the relevant requirements after examination according to the relevant provisions.
State agricultural technology popularization institutions shall strengthen guidance for village agricultural technical service stations and farmer technicians.
Villagers' committees and collective economic organizations of villages shall support and assist the work of village agricultural technical service stations and farmer technicians.
Article 16 Agricultural scientific research institutes and relevant schools shall adapt themselves to the needs of the development of rural economic construction, carry out the work of agricultural technology development and popularization, and speed up the dissemination and application of advanced technology to agricultural production.
Agricultural scientific research institutes and relevant schools shall regard the actual performance of their science and technology personnel in agricultural technology popularization as an important part of performance evaluation and determination of professional or technical titles.
Article 17 The state shall encourage farms, forest farms, pastures, fishing grounds and water project management entities to provide agricultural technology popularization services to the public.
Article 18 The state shall encourage and support the development of mass organizations of science and technology, such as specialized technology associations in rural areas, to utilize their functions in agricultural technology popularization.
Chapter III Popularization and Application of Agricultural Technology
Article 19 The popularization of key agricultural technology shall be included in the relevant national and local development programs and plans and be implemented by agricultural technology popularization departments in cooperation with departments of science and technology and other relevant departments according to their respective functions.
Article 20 Agricultural scientific research institutes and relevant schools shall regard technical problems to be solved in agricultural production as their research subjects, and the scientific research results may be popularized through the relevant agricultural technology popularization institutions or directly to agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations.
The state shall direct agricultural scientific research institutes and relevant schools to provide public agricultural technology popularization services.
Article 21 Agricultural technology popularized to agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations must be advanced, applicable and safe as proved by prior experiments in the popularization areas.
Article 22 The state shall encourage agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations to participate in agricultural technology popularization.
For agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations which apply advanced agricultural technology in their production, the relevant departments and entities shall provide support in such aspects as technical training, funds, materials and sales.
Agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations shall apply any agricultural technology on a voluntary basis, and no entity or individual shall force them to apply any agricultural technology.
In the popularization of agricultural technology, qualified farmer households, regions or engineering projects shall be selected as application examples.
Article 23 State agricultural technology popularization institutions at the county or township level shall organize agricultural laborers to study knowledge of agricultural science and technology to improve their ability of applying agricultural technology.
Education, human resources and social security, agriculture, forestry, water, science and technology, and other departments shall support the occupational education and technical training provided by agricultural scientific research institutes and relevant schools related to agricultural technology popularization to improve the technical quality of agricultural technology popularization personnel and agricultural laborers.
The state shall encourage social forces to provide agricultural technology training.
Article 24 State agricultural technology popularization institutions at all levels shall diligently perform the public duties as prescribed in Article 11 of this Law to popularize agricultural technology to agricultural laborers and organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations without service charges.
Entities and science and technology personnel, other than state agricultural technology popularization institutions, may provide agricultural technology with service charges in manners such as technology transfer, technical service, technical contracting, technical consulting and technical investment, and their lawful income and intellectual property rights such as patents on new varieties of plant and agricultural technology shall be protected by law. In technical transfer, technical service, technical contracting, technical consulting and technical investment, the parties shall enter into contracts to agree on their respective rights and duties.
Article 25 The sate shall encourage farmers' specialized cooperatives and agriculture-related enterprises to provide various forms of technical services for farmers to apply advanced agricultural technology.
Article 26 The state shall encourage and support the construction of exemplary agricultural zones focusing on the production of primary agricultural products and advantageous and featured agricultural products to utilize their leading role in agricultural technology popularization and promote the development of agricultural industrialization and modern agriculture.
Article 27 The people's governments at all levels may, in manners such as purchasing services, direct social forces to participate in public agricultural technology popularization services.
Chapter IV Safeguards of Agricultural Technology Popularization
Article 28 The state shall gradually increase its input for agricultural technology popularization. The people's governments at all levels shall secure funds for agricultural technology popularization in their financial budgets and increase such funds each year according to the relevant provisions.
The people's governments at all levels shall, by financial appropriation and drawing a certain percentage of funds from the agricultural development fund, raise special funds for agricultural technology popularization to implement agricultural technology popularization projects. The central finance shall offer subsidies to key agricultural technology popularization projects.
The operating funds of state agricultural technology popularization institutions of counties and townships shall be determined based on the local service scale and performance and be assumed jointly by public finance at all levels.
No entity or individual shall intercept or misappropriate funds for agricultural technology popularization.
Article 29 The people's governments at all levels shall take measures to ensure and improve the working conditions, living conditions and remuneration of the specialized technical personnel of state agricultural technology popularization institutions of counties and townships and offer subsidies to them according to the state provisions to maintain the stability of state agricultural technology popularization teams.
The determination of professional or technical titles of specialized technical personnel engaging in agricultural technology popularization in counties, townships and villages shall be based mainly on the evaluation of their specialized technical abilities and actual performances in agricultural technology popularization.
Article 30 The people's governments at all levels shall take measures to ensure that state agricultural technology popularization institutions possess experiment and demonstration sites, office places, popularization and training devices, and other necessary working conditions.
The local people's governments at all levels shall protect the experiment and demonstration sites, means of production and other property of state agricultural technology popularization institutions from any harm.
Article 31 administrative departments of agricultural technology popularization and agricultural technology popularization institutions at or above the county level” therein is replaced with “agricultural technology popularization departments and state agricultural technology popularization institutions at or above the county level.
Article 32 The agricultural technology popularization departments at or above the county level and the township people's governments shall oversee and evaluate the performance of public duties by state agricultural technology popularization institutions under their administration.
The agricultural technology popularization departments and state agricultural technology popularization institutions at all levels shall establish a work responsibility system and evaluation system for the specialized technical personnel of state agricultural technology popularization institutions.
For the performance evaluation, employment and promotion of personnel of township state agricultural technology popularization institutions which are mainly administered by the agricultural technology popularization departments of the people's governments at the county level, the opinions of the township people's governments and the service receivers within their service areas shall be fully solicited.
For the performance evaluation, employment and promotion of personnel of the township state agricultural technology popularization institutions which are mainly administered by the township people's governments with service guidance from the agricultural technology popularization departments of the people's governments at the county level, the opinions of the agricultural technology popularization departments of the local people's governments at the county level and the service receivers within their service areas shall be fully solicited.
Article 33 Providers of agricultural technology popularization services may enjoy taxation, credit and other preferences prescribed by the state.
Chapter V Legal Liability
Article 34 Where the relevant departments of the people's government at all levels or their staff members fail to perform duties according to this Law, the directly liable persons in charge and other directly liable persons shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with law.
Article 35 Where state agricultural technology popularization institutions or their staff members fail to perform duties according to this Law, the competent authorities shall order them to make correction within a certain time limit and circulate a notice of criticism of them; and the directly liable persons in charge and other directly liable persons shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with law.
Article 36 Whoever, in violation of this Law, popularizes any agricultural technology which has not been proved after experiment to be advanced, applicable or safe to agricultural laborers or organizations engaging in agricultural production and other operations and therefore causes any losses shall assume compensatory liability in accordance with law.
Article 37 Where the funds for agricultural technology popularization are intercepted or misappropriated in violation of this Law, the directly liable person in charge and other directly liable persons shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with law; and if the violators are suspected of any crime, they shall be subject to criminal liability.
Article 38 Where the funds for agricultural technology popularization are intercepted or misappropriated in violation of this Law, the directly liable person in charge and other directly liable persons shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with law; and if the violators are suspected of any crime, they shall be subject to criminal liability.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 39 This Law comes into force on the date of issuance.