Rural revitalization strategy and disciplinary innovation of agricultural engineering

Abstract: As long-standing goals and all-round development practices of agricultural and rural modernization of China, the rural revitalization strategy provides huge opportunities and spaces for the disciplinary innovation and development of all agricultural related disciplines. The purpose of this paper was aimed to analyze special requirements, objectives, tasks and implementation environment raised by the rural revitalization strategy, based on reviewing the references and development history of agricultural engineering, and to analyze impacts of the rural revitalization strategies on and demand for the adjustment of agricultural engineering innovation, so that to figure out the ways, means and measures for new round disciplinary adjustments and restructuring of agricultural engineering. In recent years, the disciplinary renovation and restructuring for all subjects have been encouraged and launched by the Ministry of Education, China. The new round adjustment of the discipline layout marked by the innovation and construction of new disciplines such as new engineering and new agriculture were given more attention on introducing new technological and industrial revolution achievements, and transforming and upgrading traditional engineering and agricultural science with information technology, digital technology and artificial intelligence. But it's worth noting that insufficient attention had been paid to the expansion of agricultural and rural modernization roads and changes in development patterns caused by the rural revitalization in this important adjustment process. Agricultural engineering takes multiple and wide range responsibilities in offering scientific and technological support and talent training and cultivation, so that it plays a special and key role in the modernization of agricultural and rural areas. Information, communication, intelligent and smart technologies, and all new breaking through technologies should be introduced into agricultural engineering to equip and empower it more updated and effectively. Under such a background, more efforts should also be made in such important development consequences brought by the rural revitalization strategy. The disciplinary adjustment of agricultural engineering should be restructured and optimized according to the instructions of the national development strategies and its new application areas required by agricultural and rural modernization. The more attention should be paid to the influence of social and economic development mode and structural adjustment and upgrading on innovation and its correspondence. Great attentions should be paid to following key issues: 1) The implementation of the rural revitalization strategy has opened up some new development spaces for the disciplinary innovation of agricultural engineering and proposed new development requirements. 2) The development and extension of the agricultural engineering technology systems will extend from the agricultural production to rural multi-industrial integration, relying on all agricultural and rural resources. 3) The cultivation of agricultural engineering talents and the construction of educational scientific research systems should aim at the requirements of the whole process for all rural productions, as well for the construction of rural ecological systems. 4) The systematic construction and management of agricultural and rural industries in different regions should meet the needs of the urban-rural integration development and the modernization of new rural communities' governance system. Currently, more reform, renovations and adjustments should be made to reshape the agricultural engineering to meet new needs of the rural revitalization, the new development fields and directions of agricultural engineering disciplinary innovation currently are more practical in rural e-commerce engineering, rural landscape construction and maintenance engineering, rural new industrial development space construction, rural ecological environment engineering, and rural social and economic management and governance system engineering.