China's soybean harvest on the northeastern drylands reached a record-breaking 5.4 tonnes out of 17.15 mu (1.15 hectare) of land, said the Heilongjiang-based Beidahuang Group, China's largest agricultural and agribusiness group on October 2.  

In a soybean contest hosted by the company, 100 mu of soy land was selected out of 235 mu of lands that were enrolled for the contest and harvested 5409.5 kilograms of soybeans. 

The average soybean yield reaches 311.2 kg per mu, or 20.85 kg per hectare, after impurity removal and converted into hydratable compounds, an expert panel authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs assessed.

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is the main soybean production base, contributing to more than 40 percent of the country's total soybean cultivation area. 

The global average soybean yield for the farms from the 2015 to 2019 period was 3.17 tonnes per hectare, according to an analysis by the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University. The new record in Heilongjiang achieved 4.69 tonnes per hectare.

A "space-sky-ground," which refers to an integrated intelligent monitoring system composed of data collected by satellites, drones and sensors, is the myth behind the new record.

Ge Yanhe, a farmer from Yi'an county of Qiqihar, the second-largest city of the Heilongjiang Province, told China Media Group (CMG) that the system helped him increase the average yield by two to three percent this year.

The system, which is also presented as a mobile application (App) for farmers, can show the location and the physics and chemistry of the soil of their lands. 

Based on the data collected by the system and powered by an AI algorithm, the App tells farmers when is the best time for harvest or seeding, and which type of crop is best for the land. It also guides the plantation population and method, according to CMG.

Meanwhile, Heilongjiang continues to expand on soybean plantations by adding 10 million mu, totaled to 68.5 million mu.

As of Sunday, more than 34 million mu of soybeans have been harvested across the province, according to its provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs.