Efforts to establish agricultural extension services in China began in the early 20th century through universities and church-related institutions conducting agricultural research. A national extension service was organized in 1924 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. After 1949, China's agricultural extension focused on cooperatives during the First Five-Year Plan and increased production of grains, cotton, and livestock. Subsequent reforms decentralized extension and emphasized contracts between extension agents and farmers to incentivize the adoption of new technologies.