Founded in 1960, the Red Soil Experiment Station in Hengyang of CAAS has the longest history of agricultural science of experimental station in China. It was selected as a red soil agricultural demonstration base in Central China’s Hunan province in 2000 and a National Field Observation and Experiment Station on Farmland Ecosystems in Qiyang, Hunan province by the Ministry of Science and Technology, one of the first national field stations, in 2001. It was listed as an Observation and Experiment Station on Agricultural Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China (formerly known as the Ministry of Agriculture of China) in 2005.

Since 2008, it has been listed as the National Comprehensive Experiment Station of the Rice Industrial Technology System in 2008 and was named the National Observation and Research Network Platform Sharing Service Station on Ecosystem in 2011. Three years later, in 2014, it was designated the National Agricultural Technology Innovation and Integration Demonstration Base, and in 2015 it became the National Civil Space Infrastructure Remote Sensing Verification Station. It was also listed as the National Comprehensive Experiment Station of the Green Manure Industrial Technology System in 2017, and in 2018 became the National Observation and Experiment Station on Soil Quality and the National Research and Practice Education Base for Primary and Secondary Schools. In 2020 it was given the title of National Long-term Fixed Observation and Experiment Station on Agricultural Green Development.

Focused on soil science and farmland ecology, the station studies the evolution and cultivation of red soil fertility, red soil improvement, soil nutrient management, regional governance and ecological construction and management. Its main research directions include the characteristics of long-term change and development trends of agricultural ecological environment elements in red soil hilly areas; the evolution process of agricultural ecosystem structure and functions and their impact on environmental effects and sustainable agricultural development. It also focuses on farmland ecosystem degradation mechanisms and restoration technology, the comprehensive efficiency utilization technology of red soil, and sustainable agricultural development models and technical systems in red soil areas.

The station boasts the earliest and the most long-term experiments in China. It has 18 ongoing field experiments, of which six have been carried out for more than 30 years, in the fields of cultivation of soil fertility of paddies and dry land, monitoring of fertilizer benefits, and ecological restoration. In addition, it has 20 observation fields and 40 sampling sites.

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