Technology boosts agricultural production in S China’s Guangdong

Photo shows a rice paddy in the Jitian smart agricultural park in Gaoming district, Foshan, south China’s Guangdong Province. (Photo/Hong Hai)

South China’s Guangdong Province saw an annual grain output of 12.92 million tonnes this year, up 0.9 percent year on year by 117,000 tonnes, according to the Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics in Guangdong.

It marks a record output in the last 10 years and also an increase for four consecutive years, the office said.

As the largest major grain purchasing area in China, Guangdong in recent years has taken strict measures to ensure that Party committees and government offices shoulder equal responsibility for food security, and thoroughly implemented the food crop production strategy based on farmland management and the application of technology.

The province has steadily improved its overall agricultural production and disaster prevention and relief capability, securing a stable grain self-sufficiency rate.

Local authorities have also strengthened support for farming technologies and equipment, and worked to reduce losses throughout the whole process through the use of intelligent agricultural technologies.

It is reported that Guangdong’s rice planting area reached 34.5 million mu (2.3 million hectares) in 2022, of which about 93 percent was harvested by machine. Every step of the process, from seed selection and field management to harvesting, transport and distribution, can be assisted by machine to cut losses and waste, and boost yield.