The autumn grain harvest is in full swing across central China’s Henan Province, with local authorities coordinating farm machinery and emergency grain-drying services to help farmers bring in their crops and reduce post-harvest losses.

Henan plans to deploy more than 4 million pieces and sets of agricultural machinery during this year’s autumn harvesting, plowing and sowing season, including 214,000 harvesting machines, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

As of October 1, grain crops had been harvested from 48.95 million mu, or about 3.26 million hectares, across the province. The daily harvesting rate had reached 1.87 million mu, equivalent to roughly 124,700 hectares.

Agricultural machinery and power supply departments in many areas are coordinating equipment dispatch and ensuring access to emergency drying services, helping protect crops through the final stages of the harvest.

One of China’s major agricultural provinces, Henan is also expanding its use of advanced farm equipment to improve productivity. Smartphone-controlled irrigation systems, sensor-equipped monitoring posts and driverless tractors are being increasingly used alongside machinery serving the wider agricultural production chain.

These technologies are helping improve efficiency across farming operations as the province pursues agricultural modernization.

Cover: A farmer uses a tractor to turn corn spread out for drying in Zhoukou, central China’s Henan Province, October 5, 2026. /VCG