Agricultural Engineering in China is Developing With Magnificent Prospects——A Speech on the 15^th Anniversary of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering

The Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering was established in November 1979,15 years ago. The author summarizes the achievenments CSAE has made and points out that the development of agricultural engineering technology in China was an outcome of the Reform and Open Policy of the country, because the government had only put emphasis on farm mechanization and hydraulic engineering in the long past. Practices in the last 15 years have shown that land utilization , rural energy, bio-environment, agricultural product processing and the application of remote sensing, electronics, computer technology, and systems science to agriculture are also important fields of agricultural engineering which had made remarkable contributions to the historical advancement of Chinese agriculture in the past and will be even more urgently needed in the future, especially when a broader sense of agriculture is considered. Agriculture should not only mean the increase of crop yields, but should include the increase of farmer' s income and the development of ru- ral economy as well. The author points out also that the term agriculture engineering in China may be used to mean related scientific research, and also the design and implementation of engineering installations for agriculture. The nature of these two kinds of work is quite different but both are important and neither should be overlooked. There is a long way to go, with heavy responsibilities. Finally the author puts forward some suggestions for the society' s future work.