The following practice describes the STB model, its functions, major elements, how it works, stakeholders involved, training required, costs and outcomes, and challenges and limitations to adoption and scaling. It includes summary information on some case studies to highlight the success of this practice applied elsewhere.

China's agriculture sector is characterized as having high-input, high-output and significant environmental costs. Yet, agricultural development has become a high priority for the country in recent decades. China's agriculture producers are dominated by smallholder farmers. The greatest challenge that the sector currently faces is to transfer knowledge into action. To reduce this breach in 2009, the China Agricultural University (CAU) initiated a novel approach to empower smallholder farmers for sustainable agricultural production in China, called Science and Technology Backyards (STB).

The Science and Technology Backyards (STB) is a novel approach recognized by its innovative organizational settings, where  CAU professors and postgraduate students moved their research programs from the experimental station to the village and rented a backyard. To be closer to the farmer's reality, they lived, worked and studied high-yielding technologies and responses from the farmers in the village. In the years, the backyard work attracted more farmers and encouraged further participation. Thus it became a science and technology dissemination platform at the local community level. Since 2009, the number of STBs, farms covered by STBs, and trained farmers have increased rapidly. As of 2018, STBs have extended to 23 provinces and regions in China, including 29 scientific research institutes, 127 STBs, and 45 kinds of crops.