East China’s Jiangsu province has reported speedy progress in the harvest of rice in its efforts to contribute to the province’s food security.
In Yongning Sub-district, Pukou District, Nanjing, over 10000 mu of rice have gradually matured. Local farmers began to harvest the rice in batches by taking advantage of the recent spell of sunny weather.
Farmers in Jiangsu have maintained the tradition of intensive cultivation by placing greater emphasis on using new technologies to save fertilizer and reduce pesticides so as to continuously improve the benefits per mu of rice.
For the first time this year, Shao Mingwen and more than 30 cooperative members applied the technology of Trichoderma harzianum developed by Shen Qirong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The new technology can prevent and control fungal diseases in the soil and reduce the use of pesticides.
The use of slow-release fertilizers in combination with new technologies not only saves fertilizer and drugs, reduces the cost of agricultural inputs, but also increases the yield and quality of rice.
“Since reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, we have reduced the impact of fertilizers and pesticides on soil and water, making the rice fuller and better tasting. This year's yield is expected to be around 700 kilograms per mu, an increase of 20 kilograms from last year,” said Shao Mingwen, Chairman of Nanjing Zhongxinli Planting Professional Cooperative.
“Based on our high-quality rice to increase added value, we have increased farmers' enthusiasm for growing rice, forming a virtuous cycle of excellent varieties, market recognition, and farmers' willingness to grow, and also ensuring food safety,” said Li Gang, Director of Agricultural Service Center, Yongning Sub-district, Pukou District, Nanjing.
There is more than one example of using good seeds and methods to improve the efficiency of grain cultivation in intensive farming.
The agricultural technicians of Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation Nantong Branch have focused on weed prevention and control by guiding each production area to accurately control diseases, pests, and weeds based on their occurrence in different farm fields. They have also linked the yield and quality of rice to the performance of leaders, improving the production enthusiasm of farmers.
“Compared with previous years, the number of times management personnel have gone deep into the fields to inspect diseases and pests has increased. Everyone has almost regarded it as their own vegetable garden for intensive cultivation, and the base has recorded an average yield per mu that is significantly higher than last year by about 90 kilograms, which has strengthened our confidence in planting wheat in the next season,” said Yuan Hui, Farmland manager of Da'an Brigade of Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation Nantong Branch.
