| Traditional agricultural technology in China has a long and splendid history. However, China was left behind the rest of the world in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During that time, China isolated herself from the outside world and paid little attention to science and technology. Western countries invaded China in the late 19th century. As a result, there were only a few educational institutions for agriculture science and a severe shortage of productive materials. The USSR's economy and science and technology developed since early 19th century. After October revolution, advanced results were achieved in almost all basic subject fields and advanced research and educational system for agriculture science was also established in the USSR. In the 1950s, agriculture technology in the USSR was among the best in the world and mechanization in agriculture was realized.Science and technology develops while mankind communicates. In this sense, international scientific and technological cooperation serves as an effective way for developing countries to make up. Sino-USSR cooperation has a long history and develops gradually. In the 20th century, the cooperation involved from the kind of sympathy and aid to the kind of friendship and partnership. When new China was founded, she was backward in economy and plagued by disasters. Western capitalist country imposed blockage and embargo on China. China had no choice but to cooperate with the USSR in all fields. There were favorable political, economic and cultural backgrounds as well as various advantages for the Sino-USSR scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector.There were a lot of advantages and solid foundation for the SIno-USSR scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector China and the USSR are good neighbors sharing border lines of more than 7,000 kilos. There are vast of land and plowland with similar ecological environment at the same latitude in both countries, which is favorable for the introduction of breed and technology. Both with a vast territory, China and the USSR are abundant in germ plasm. In a word, it is convenient for the two countries to cooperate in agriculture. In early 20th century, Russian tractors and various semi-mechanized farm tools were introduced to Xnjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin. 1930s-1940s witnessed extensive Sino-USSR cooperation in agriculture sector. Students were sent to the USSR and new breed and machinery were introduce and popularized. These regions set a good example for the rest of the country when they also tried to learn from the USSR.Scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector between governments in both China and the former USSR was in full swing during the eleven years from August 1949 to August 1960. Cooperation in the early stage was mainly carried out through diplomatic channels. Later, non-diplomatic channels prevailed, with Sino-USSR science and technology council, the Agreement on 122 items and direct cooperation between the academies of agriculture sciences in both countries all playing an active role. The main contents of the cooperation was to retain consultants and experts from USSR, to exchange students and visiting scholars, to exchange seed, seedling, books, periodicals, information and to introduce new varieties and farm tools from USSR.Top priority for cooperation in the early stage was to solve technical problems in agriculture. Later, importance was attached to education and research. Programs put forward by the USSR in the early stage centered on germ plasm and traditional techniques in agriculture. Later, emphasis was given to the improvement on introduced technology and innovations. That is to say, Sino-USSR cooperation in the late stage is complementary and therefore at a higher level than in the early stage. With the deepening of cooperation, agricultural science and technology in China developed steadily.Sino-USSR cooperation is first of all complementary. Programs put forward by China are mostly industrial programs while programs put forward by the USSR are mostly agricultural programs. Therefore, China carried out all the agricultural programs put forward by the USSR. This is also the reason why Sino-USSR scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector deepened.Approaches in common use for international cooperation were adopted during the Sino-USSR cooperation, which include: to exchange scientists, scholars, experts and students; to exchange information and periodicals; to make plans and to carry out plans; to research, develop and to exchange results and experiences; to hold training classes, conference and exhibitions. Base on archives and relevant records, this paper fully studied the contents of the cooperation. The purpose of scientific and technological cooperation is to introduce science and technology form foreign countries. Russian experts and Chinese students sent to the USSR all played an important role. In 1948-1960, 221 Russian experts were retained by the agriculture sector; 253 Chinese students were sent to study in the USSR; 95 Russian experts visited china and 335 Chinese visited the USSR. There were strict requirement for Russian experts who were to be dispatched to China. It is also true for Chinese students to be sent to study in the USSR.Science and technology are No. 1 productive forces. Sino-USSR scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector provided China with modern agricultural technology and experiences. Agricultural output was enhanced and plant diseases and insect pests were prevented and cured. Breed introduced from the USSR played an active role at that time and also enriched breeding materials. Cotton breed introduced from the USSR were widely planted in some region in the 1950s and 1960s.Through cooperation, system of modern agriculture science was established. Two third of the majors of Chinese students studying in the USSR belongs to basic agriculture science, with its focus on booming subject, such as plant physiology, biochemistry and biophysics and so on. When these students returned, most of them played an extremely important role.The state-owned friendship farm was set up in China in the early days after the founding of New China, of which all the farming machinery and experts were provided by the former USSR. First of this kind, it was a large-scale state-owned mechanization farms, and its establishment followed scientific procedures of reconnoiter, design and exploitation. Bumper harvest was seen in the first year. The establishment of such a farm resulted in the introduction of technology and experiences for the construction and management of state-owned farms. It also cultivated a large number of managerial cadres and technicians for setting up more state-owned farms nationwide. At the same time agricultural technology and picked seeds were also introduced. All this set a good example for later establishment of state-owned farms in China in terms of planning, exploitation and management. Accordingly, the requirements put forward by Premier Zhou Enlai were fulfilled that such farms should bring grain, experiences and experts as well.Meanwhile, Sino-USSR Scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector also has its own drawbacks. Some introduced technology and machinery proved to be inefficient. Copying the so-called USSR mode without taking China into consideration has resulted in some severe consequences. Other drawbacks included the promotion of the theory of Michurin, prohibition of Morgan genetics, the exclusion and limitation of cultural traditions. As a whole however, the cooperation brought more positive results than negative ones. The origin, development and ending of the Sino-USSR scientific and technological cooperation were the result of political, economic and cultural factors and therefore were historically inevitable. Scientific and technological cooperation in agriculture sector between China and the former USSR in the early days after the founding of New China has laid a solid foundation for the future development of agriculture sciences and agricultural machinery and therefore has far-reaching influences on the development of agriculture in China.
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