China secures another bumper autumn harvest as growing season comes to an end

A farmer operates a harvester to reap rice in a paddy field in Zhengjia village, Chun’an county, east China’s Zhejiang province, Nov. 26, 2021. (Photo/Xie Hangkai)

With the autumn harvest ending soon, China ensured a bumper autumn harvest after seeing a windfall harvest of summer grain and early rice.

In northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, the country’s largest grain production base, the harvest of autumn grain crops, such as rice, soybean and corn, have almost came to an end. This year, the area of autumn grain in the province surpassed 216 million mu (about 14.4 million hectares).

In southwest China’s Guizhou province, the area and yield of autumn grain are expected to grow by about 2 percent and 5 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

The autumn grain output in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is projected to increase by 10.8 percent from a year ago, and the acreage, yield per unit area and total yield all registered year-on-year growth.

In east China’s Anhui province, the total output of autumn grain is forecasted to exceed 22.8 million tonnes, outperforming the planned target.

In general, an increase in autumn grain yield seems certain, according to Pan Wenbo, head of the crop production department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).

Although serious floods and droughts caused a decrease in autumn grain production in parts of provinces, including Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, the losses in grain production have been compensated for by increases in other primary grain-growing areas, such as in northeastern provinces, Pan said.

Pan noted that about 6.67 million hectares of crops were affected by extreme weather in the country, compared with an average of 24 million hectares during the past 10 years.

Farmers harvest late-season rice in a paddy field in Jianfeng town, Ledong county, south China’s Hainan province, Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo/Meng Zhongde)

The increased plantation area of autumn grain and the expanded planting of high-yield corn have provided a sound foundation for a bumper autumn harvest, Pan explained, adding that suitable soil moisture, temperature and lighting conditions, as well as increased per unit yields were also the main reasons for the windfall harvest.

China’s summer grain output reached 145.8 million tonnes this year, up 2.97 million tonnes year-on-year, according to the MARA. The yield for early-season rice hit 28 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 725,000 tonnes.

The country is set to achieve a bumper grain harvest for 18 consecutive years, with its grain output exceeding 650 million tonnes for seven years in a row.

Meanwhile, China has implemented a food crop production strategy based on farmland management and the application of technology, stabilizing and increasing grain production.

This year, the country has promoted the vitalization of its seed industry, developed high-standard farmland, and advanced the mechanization of entire agricultural production processes while reducing losses during harvesting, said Zeng Yande, an official who oversees development planning at the MARA.

The overall level of mechanization in plowing, sowing, and harvesting is expected to increase to 71 percent this year. Besides, operators of harvesters will help bring down harvesting losses by over 1 percentage point.

A farmer operates a harvester to reap late-season rice in a paddy field in Luzhi town, Suzhou city, east China’s Jiangsu province, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo/Zhang Feng)

“Nowadays, we use combine harvesters in rice harvesting,” said Wang Jun, a rice grower in Pingming town, Donghai county, Lianyungang city of east China’s Jiangsu province, adding that all agricultural machine operators in the town have received training.

Wang revealed that the level of mechanization in the town has significantly improved, reducing losses during harvesting, which means more overall grain output. Wang planted about 0.67 hectares of rice this year, with a total yield reaching 7.5 tonnes.

As the autumn grain enters onto the market, China has successively launched its minimum price program for middle-and late-season rice. As of early November, a total of 15 million tonnes of middle-and late-season rice had been purchased in major agricultural production areas. Among them, 70,000 tonnes were purchased at the minimum price.