The Institution of Chinese Agricultural Civilization, also known as the Institution of Chinese Agricultural Heritage, is a professional educational institution strongly committed to the study and inheritance of Chinese agricultural history and culture. Its earliest history can be traced back to 1920, when the Agricultural History Archive of the University of Nanjing was founded. In July 1955, under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, the Ministry of Agriculture formally approved the establishment of the Institution of Chinese Agricultural Heritage. Studies were once disrupted during the Cultural Revolution.
In 1978, with the approval of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, it was renamed the Institution of Agricultural Technology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the address was located in the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It was relocated to Nanjing Agricultural University in 1979 and renamed the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences – Institution of Chinese Agricultural Heritage of Nanjing Agricultural University in 1984. In June 2001, related disciplines were integrated and restructured into the Institution of Chinese Agricultural Civilization, which remains to date the only national-level research institution specializing in agricultural history and culture.