Nanjing Agricultural University is a first-class agricultural university in China. We have, since long ago, followed the principle of “seeking support by providing service and promoting development by making contributions” in management. We have made full use of our advantages in technology and talent resources, initiatively corresponded to the development of agricultural industry in China, focused our work in technological cooperation on “the greatest concerns of the government, the most serious shortage in agriculture, and the most urgent demand of farmers”, and have contributed significantly to the rural economic construction and regional agricultural development in China.
We have carried out off-campus cooperation in the following four aspects:
1. Providing "Four-technology services"
We have provided services in development, transfer, consultation and service in agricultural technologies, and, based the principles of equality and voluntariness and of mutual benefit and win-win result, have signed cooperative agreements with the local governments and businesses with rights and obligations for each partner so as to transfer agricultural technologies developed by NAU scientists and to realize the NAU’s function of social service.
2. Performing nonprofit agricultural technology extension
In this respect, we have mainly undertaken the central or local government-sponsored programs of extending agricultural technologies to provide free consultation and guidance for farmers. The government pays for our technological service and we are entrusted with the nonprofit promotion of agricultural technologies in the country.
3. Offering policy advice
Our contribution to the society in this respect has been in this manner: The NAU scholars in the fields of social sciences and arts and humanities havebeen devoted to theoretical and applying researches on issues of global, strategic and prospective importance in China’s agricultural modernization and new rural construction. They have carried out field surveys, literature reviews, and domestic-international comparisons to find constructive solutions and suggestions in agriculture for governments at all levels, for other related businesses and institutions, and for farmers.
4. Supplying talent training
To help promote the management performance of government organizations and managerial personnel of agricultural businesses, we have made use of our advantages of technologies, human resources and bases for instruction and have undertaken the programs of offering courses of training in management and technology which have been entrusted by the governments at various levels and agricultural businesses. As an agricultural university, we have also helped the government in agricultural development by training related officials and sending faculty members to working in the government for a certain period of time by taking temporary posts in related departments. Those temporary officials’ major duty is to help alleviate poverty by means of agricultural technology.
In 2011 to 2017, we have signed and entered into 1891 contracts on "four-technology services", valuing a total of 750 million RMB, with 580 million RMB obligated. In the past three years, the value of our "four-technology services" contracts have had a year-on-year growth by 21%, with a growth of obligated funds by 22%. In 2016 and 2017, we had yearly obligated fund of over 100 million RMB.
Nanjing Agricultural University has now signed agreements on comprehensive cooperation with 13 Jiangsu provincial cities and 30 local governments in other provinces in the country, have carried out technological cooperation with over 20 businesses like Longping High-tech, the Yu Run Group, Su Ning Universal, the Zhong Mu Group, Sino-Chemical Fertilizer, the Mengniu Group, and the Su Food Group, and have established close cooperationrelationships with them by signing strategic cooperative agreements and co-founding platforms including engineering research centers, key laboratories, and industrial research institutes, and so on.
