Mechanized summer wheat harvest on 16.4 million mu (1.09 million hectares) of land in China has been completed, accounting for 6 percent of the country's total wheat land, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Wednesday. 

Southwestern China, a main area for the crop, has harvested over 90 percent of its summer wheat.

Meanwhile, the winter wheat plantation area is kept at 330 million mu (22 million hectares), and large-scale mechanized harvest will kick off by the end of May starting from the Huang-Huai-Hai – a region covering parts of north, central and east China – which accounts for three-quarters of the national summer grain output.

Wheat is also being harvested in Anhui and Hubei provinces, largely with the use of agricultural machinery.

Liu Fengxue from Anhui told China Media Group (CMG) that machines had helped him reduce grain loss during harvest by about 25 kilograms per mu.

Hubei's Yunxi County has deployed 8,000 agricultural equipment to make up for labor shortage and enhance efficiency. 

"We could finish harvesting in one day and start plowing tomorrow, after which we will begin sowing," said Cai Guojie, a villager at Dianzi Town in Yunxi.

About 97 percent of China's winter wheat is harvested by machine, of which 30 percent needs to be harvested with cross-region collaboration. 

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the ministry is working out the logistics to ensure the presence of harvesters on each wheat field. 

The ministry estimates that over 600,000 combine harvesters would be in place to meet harvesting needs, according to Zhu Enlin, deputy head of the ministry's Department of Crop Production.