Key Laboratory of Key Technology on Agricultural Machinery and Equipment, Ministry of Education, in South China Agricultural University was established as Agricultural Machinery Laboratory of South China Agricultural College in 1958, and approved as Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education co-sponsored by the province and ministry in 2007. In 2010, it was accepted by the Ministry of Education to be a Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education.

Agricultural Mechanization Engineering discipline that the laboratory relies on has a profound academic accumulation. As early as the 1950s, Professor Yaojian Shao, the founder of the discipline, started to carry out research on paddy field tractor wheels, who is one of the earliest experts on this field. From the 1970s to the 1980s, the laboratory conducted the researches on paddy soil characteristics and test methods, flow trajectories of soil under the blade of paddy field drive wheels, kinematics and dynamics of paddy field drive wheels. The design of wheel for paddy cultivator was optimized to achieve larger propulsion force and good trafficability, and more 50 million units has been put into practice in Hunan and other provinces. From the 1960s, Professor Feng Liang studied the rice transplanter in depth, who is the pioneer on rice transplanter system design in China. The book, Rice Combine Harvester Theory and Design, written by Professor Liangneng Huang is the earliest publication and most widely used reference text book on the field of rice harvester.

Since the 1990s, the laboratory further integrated the research areas to form three stable and distinctive research directions:

Research on Key Technology of Rice Production Machinery and Equipment,

Research on Key Technology of Production Machinery and Equipment for Crop in Southern China,

Research on Key Technology of Precision Agriculture.

      To date, there are 57 researchers, including 1  Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 1 member of Thousand Talents Program of China, 1 member of National High-level Personnel of Special Support Program namely “Ten Thousand Talents Program”,1 member of Member of State Council Academic Degrees Committee in Agricultural Engineering Discipline, 4 experts in National Modern Agricultural Industrial Technological System, 3 experts are supported by special government allowances of the state council, and 1 expert in Guangdong Agriculture Industry System.

Since the National Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the laboratory has undertaken more than 270 provincial and ministerial level projects, and has been granted research funding about 230 million yuan, and related research achievements including: more than 500 academic journal papers, and 300 articles are indexed by SCI, EI); more than 370 pieces are applied for invention patents, and 135 pieces are approved as invention patents; organized achievement identification / acceptance for 14 objects, 8 provincial and ministerial level scientific research achievement awards; realized 5 achievements. Among these achievements, the research of rice precision hill broadcast technology and equipment is regarded as International Leading Level in the Field of Mechanical Rice Water Direct Seeding Machinery ; paddy field laser leveling technology and equipment is regarded as  International Leading Level in the Paddy Field Leveling Technology and Equipment; GPS-based agriculture machinery navigation and automatic operating system is regarded as International advanced Level. Agricultural mechanization teaching team was granted as national outstanding teaching team, “Agricultural Machinery Chemistry” was named as “National Excellent Course”, agricultural mechanization was recommended as “National Characteristic Major”. The laboratory team has made important contributions for the development of agricultural mechanization in China.