Shift towards greater mechanization helps facilitate efficiency improvements in summer harvest across China

Chinese localities have been promoting the application of new and efficient agricultural machines to facilitate the summer harvest, which is now in full swing across China.

The mechanically harvested area for wheat hit 121 million mu (about 8.07 million hectares) across the country, with the daily mechanically harvested area exceeding 20 million mu for two consecutive days, signaling a nationwide rollout of the summer wheat harvest, according to official data issued on June 4.

Harvesters work along a wheat field on behalf of Jiangsu Baima Lake Farm Co., Ltd. in east China’s Jiangsu Province, June 3. (Photo/Cao Zheng)

Data also showed that the major summer grain production bases across the country had already completed over 40 percent of their wheat harvesting tasks.

On May 28, two unmanned harvesters were busy harvesting wheat at an unmanned farm located inside a national agricultural demonstration zone in Wujiang district, Suzhou city, east China’s Jiangsu Province.

The unmanned harvesters, which are guided with the high-precision positioning technology of China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and an automatic control system, are able to automatically reap wheat crops following a preset route along the field, in addition to unloading collected wheat grains, introduced an official in charge of promoting agricultural mechanization in Wujiang district.

The unmanned harvesters can also cut the loss rate for wheat grains collected during the harvesting process to less than 1 percent. After setting the routes for the unmanned harvesters in accordance with the size of the fields using an intelligent terminal platform, they are able to improve overall harvesting efficiency. Besides, optimized routes can help harvesters reduce fuel consumption and losses to some extent.

“During this year’s summer harvest, unmanned harvesters were used to harvest wheat crops in Suzhou for the first time,” the official said, adding that the agriculture and rural affairs bureau of Wujiang district will continue to develop new ways of expanding the application scenarios for these kinds of unmanned harvesters as well as exploring the roll out of unmanned farms.

Jiangsu has worked to make machines for agricultural production easily available across the province, according to Zhang Yaochun, deputy head of the agricultural machinery office under the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Zhang introduced that the province has distributed about 120,000 combine harvesters (including 123 unmanned ones), 145,000 large and medium-sized tractors (including 612 unmanned ones), 110,000 rice transplanters (including 553 unmanned ones), 14,000 crop protection drones, and 32,000 drying machines. The mechanization rate for wheat harvesting is expected to remain above 99 percent across the province moving forward.

A farmer operates a harvester for reaping wheat crops in Ciyuan village, Hanzhong town, Nanyang city, central China’s Henan Province, June 3. (Photo/Zhang Zhonghai)

Chinese localities have also worked to ensure cross-regional mechanized harvesting through the adoption of various measures.

Central China’s Henan Province will deploy 4 million units of agricultural machines in various kinds, including 180,000 combine harvesters for this year’s summer harvest, while the proportion of mechanized harvesting for wheat crops will reach over 99 percent across the province, said an official from the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Meanwhile, efforts have been made to make agricultural machines and machinery maintenance more readily available as well as providing training for agricultural equipment operators so as to reduce losses in the process of harvesting.

The province’s transport authorities issued 50,000 certificates for cross-regional mechanized harvesting and ensured that highways would be toll-free for any machines used in agricultural production. Besides, Henan established nearly 1,500 sites to refuel combine harvesters at a discount across the province.

On May 27, more than 20 agricultural machines, including harvesters, tractors and hay rakes, were seen operating in the wheat fields of Song Haizhou, a major wheat grower in Caiyuanliu village, Shuangmiao town, Xiangcheng county of Henan.

“I contracted about 1,500 mu of land in Shuangmiao town. Thanks to the arrangement of an agricultural machinery cooperative, these agricultural machines were deployed in my fields in a timely manner,” Song said.

The cooperative boasts 30 agricultural equipment operators, 16 harvesters, 20 tractors and two large bundling machines.

“All agricultural machines in our cooperative have been maintained, and all agricultural equipment operators have taken part in training sessions organized by our county,” said Li Xiaojun, head of the cooperative.

In Yexian, a major agricultural producing county in Henan, over 500 agricultural agents have provided assistance with summer harvesting and have worked to improve the utilization efficiency of machinery by employing operators of agricultural machines on behalf of local farmers.

Niu Dengke is one of these contracted agents. Niu recently guided operators of agricultural machines to reap wheat crops in fields located in the county’s Lilindian village.

“I called on these operators from other places to come together to help the villagers in reaping their wheat crops, which not only makes mechanized harvesting accessible to these villagers but also increases my income,” Niu said.