China's agri-tech service network fully operating

A meeting of the China Rural Special Technique Association (CRSTA) reported China has formed a nationwide web to provide agriculturalscience and technology services in rural areas. Xu Yanhao, a senior official with China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), said China's number of grassroots organizations forpromoting agriculture technology has reached 133,000, with 11.3 million members.Xu said, ‘These organizations remain a key front for providing services to farmers, promoting agricultural technologies and improvingpeople's livelihood in the rural areas.’ Since 2006, China's central government has invested RMB1.05 billion ($166.9 million) in providing agriculture technology services and supporting grassroots service units.