Jiangsu reports another bumper summer grain harvest

East China’s Jiangsu province recorded a total summer grain production of 14.07 billion kilograms this year, up 68 million kilograms year-on-year, reaching a new historical high and making an important contribution to the national summer grain harvest.

Chen Jianhuai, a farmer in Donghai County, felt much more relieved after selling his harvest of wheat to the local grain depot.

Chen said that in late May, Donghai experienced consecutive rainy days. Thanks to the high standard farmland that is complete with integrated and smooth ditches, his wheat fields of over 800 mu were not inundated, thereby ensuring a good harvest.

Over the past days, Donghai County has been affected by more rainfall caused by typhoons, but the high standard farmland has made Chen confident in this year's rice harvest.

“High standard farmland is effective in achieving high yields and harvests in complex weather conditions. Taking a water depth of 30 centimeters as an example, over 800 mu of high standard farmland can be drained of floodwater in just one or two days. However, for ordinary farmland, it usually takes four to five days, or even longer, to fully discharge the flood”, Chen Jianhuai, a grain grower in Pingming Town, Donghai County, said.

By implementing the food crop production strategy based on farmland management and technological application, Jiangsu has consolidated the foundation of stable grain production with high standard farmland, and the upgrading of seed varieties and equipment has provided solid support for the province’s abundant grain harvest.

Jiangsu Shunda Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. is a leading agricultural enterprise in Jianhu County and one of the second batch of "unmanned farms" announced and established by Jiangsu this year.

In recent years, the company has extensively promoted high-yield and high resistance rice and wheat varieties, and achieved comprehensive mechanization of agricultural production throughout the entire process by investing 40 million yuan to purchase various agricultural machinery and equipment.15 hydraulic rotary plows that improve soil quality have played an important role in this year's grain production.

“In the past, the depth of ordinary rotary tillage returning to the field could only reach about 10 centimeters, while the depth of hydraulic rotary tillage plow could reach 20 centimeters, solving the problem of soil compaction, improving soil water storage and retention capacity, reducing pesticide use, and achieving stable and increased yield”, Zhou Kuanhua, General Manager of Jiangsu Shunda Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., said.

Focusing on key factors of grain production such as arable land and agricultural machinery equipment, starting from March, Jiangsu has investigated farmland construction projects that have been put into use since 2019, promptly rectified problems such as damaged ditches and poor drainage and irrigation, and ensured the effectiveness of the high standard farmland.

Jiangsu has rapidly promoted the construction and renovation of approximately 4 million mu of high standard farmland approved last year, and all of them were put into use before the rice seedlings were transplanted in June.

According to the plan, this year Jiangsu will build 1.2 million mu of high standard farmland, transform and enhance 2.07 million mu, which is expected to further consolidate the foundation of stable and high grain yield in the province.

Jiangsu is also developing an emergency operation plan for agricultural machinery disaster prevention and reduction, aiming to establish an efficient operating mechanism, strengthen agricultural machinery scheduling, enhance disaster prevention and reduction emergency capabilities, and ensure food production safety.

“The per capita arable land area in Jiangsu is about half of the national average, and the reserve resources for arable land are relatively scarce. This reality determines that in order to ensure stable food supply, Jiangsu must firmly grasp key factors such as arable land and technology, encourage farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices, promote high yield and high resistance new varieties, and intelligent green new equipment to enhance sustainable comprehensive production capacity”, Zhao Xia, Dean and Professor of the School of Grain and Materials at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, said.