Instructions on the Report on the Work Conference Situation
(29 February 1960)

After reading by Kang, Qiao, and Tian[1], have Qiao telegraph Tan Zhenlin[2] to draft a document for the Central Committee, distribute this report[3] to all relevant academic institutions and Party committees at all levels, down to the communes, and implement it accordingly.

Mao Zedong
February 29

--- Notes

[1] Kang refers to Kang Sheng, then alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the Central Culture and Education Group. Qiao refers to Hu Qiaomu, then alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and secretary to Mao Zedong. Tian refers to Tian Jiaying, then deputy director of the Political Research Office of the CPC Central Committee and secretary to Mao Zedong.
[2] Tan Zhenlin, then member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier of the State Council.
[3] Refers to the report of the Party Group of the Ministry of Agriculture on the situation of the National Agricultural Scientific Research Work Conference, dated 2 February 1960, submitted to the Rural Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and reported to the Central Committee and Mao Zedong. The report stated that the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences convened the National Agricultural Scientific Research Work Conference from 1 to 20 December 1959, which summed up the major achievements and experiences on the agricultural science front in 1959, put forward constructive arrangements for agricultural scientific research work in 1960, and made specific deployments for the work of the research institutes under the Academy. (1) National agricultural scientific research work in 1959 was a year of continuing the Great Leap Forward. By the end of October, more than 3,300 projects had been completed, accounting for 87% of the total. A nationwide agricultural scientific research network based on the people's communes had basically taken shape. (2) By resolutely implementing the policy of "walking on two legs" and vigorously launching mass movements, a large amount of scientific data had been accumulated in systematically summing up the experience of large-area high-yield crops and exploring the laws for increasing production under the Eight-Point Charter for Agriculture, further enriching the various contents of the Eight-Point Charter for Agriculture, which played a significant role in guiding current production. Many achievements were made in soil surveys, breeding superior varieties, improving agricultural machinery and tools, plant protection, and livestock disease treatment. Nine important theoretical works and a batch of scientific and technological books were organized and compiled, which was a pioneering undertaking in national agricultural scientific research in recent years. (3) Regarding the methods of agricultural scientific research, some successful experiences had been explored. These included: persisting in putting politics in command and vigorously launching mass movements; arranging research topics according to production needs and using tasks to drive disciplines; adopting the method of setting up multiple base points and advancing multiple methods simultaneously for experiments on cutting-edge problems and problems urgently needing solutions; and adopting the method of combining research laboratories, experimental farms, and people's commune base points. (4) There were also some problems urgently requiring solutions at present. The main ones were: the bourgeois idealist worldview and academic thinking still existed to varying degrees; the cutting-edge and basic disciplines on the agricultural science front were still very weak, and their distribution was unbalanced; and the growth rate of technical forces still lagged behind the requirements of the tasks. (5) The main work for 1960 was: 1. Continue to sum up high-yield experience, further explore the application laws of the Eight-Point Charter for Agriculture, and breed new high-yield and high-quality varieties; actively carry out research and pilot work on agricultural mechanization and electrification; and comprehensively launch animal husbandry and veterinary research with pig raising as the key link. 2. Vigorously cultivate new forces and establish various types of agricultural technical schools and training courses. 3. On the existing foundation, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences should actively establish new research institutes, fill gaps in disciplines, and organize scientific research personnel to conduct investigations in remote areas and propose plans for developing agricultural science locally. 4. Systematically study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, and in conjunction with scientific practice, continuously criticize the bourgeois worldview and methodology within the agricultural scientific research ranks, and solve important problems in production and science. On 8 March 1960, the CPC Central Committee approved and transmitted this report.