Autumn grain harvests have gained momentum across China's major grain-producing regions, with relevant authorities promoting efficient harvesting methods to ensure food security and avoid the impact of potential bad weather.
In Xinyang City in central China's Henan Province, more than 580,000 hectares of grain ushered in the autumn harvest period.
In Luoshan County, farmers accelerated their pace to ensure in-time harvests, with drying equipment set at local agricultural cooperatives operating uninterruptedly.
"Our dryers run 24 hours a day for all-day-long drying. The average daily drying capacity is about 1,000 tonnes, and the highest drying capacity can reach about 1,500 tonnes," said Bao Fangfang, a person in charge of an agricultural cooperative in Luoshan County.
The autumn planting area in Xinyang City this year is around 580,666 hectares, with rice accounting for around 502,793 hectares. There are 12,730 crawler harvesters and 805 drying equipment put into operation for the ongoing autumn harvest in the city.
As of Monday, Xinyang had seen around 527,402 hectares of grain harvested, accounting for 90.82 percent of the total sown area, of which around 458,760 hectares of rice had been harvested, accounting for 91.24 percent of the total sown area of rice.
Grain is harvested in Shuangyashan City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, October 10, 2023. /CMG
In northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the harvest of rice has reached its peak.
At the "859 Farm," a state farm located in Shuangyashan City, more than 53,000 hectares of rice welcomed the autumn harvest. Rice at the farm has high moisture content as the frost this year came relatively late and there was a lot of rain. Local farmers decided to cut and dry the plants in farmlands first, then pick them up and thresh them.
This way, the harvest period can be shortened by five to seven days, which helps avoid the impact of bad weather during the harvest. This harvest method can also create favorable conditions for the operation of large-scale harvesters and reduce the loss rate during harvest to less than 2 percent, which can help ensure grain output.
According to the current field yield measurements, the average rice yield per hectare at the "859 Farm" can reach around 9,000 kilograms this autumn.
(Cover image via CFP)