Advances in technology help to ensure bumper crop crop.
Farmers in Rongshui county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region work in grain fields on Tuesday as a bumper harvest is within sight. LONG LINZHI China is expecting a bumper autumn harvest this year, with grain harvesting in full swing across the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
According to the latest survey by the ministry, 33.6 million hectares of autumn grain crops were harvested nationwide as of Monday, equal to 38.6 percent of the projected total and up 2 percentage points from the same period last year.
Nearly 70 percent of the grain harvest in Southwest China has been completed, and more than 20 percent of it has been completed in Northeast China, the ministry said.
Zhu Juan, an official with the ministry, said major grain producing areas are entering their harvesting seasons and the country is likely to record a bumper autumn harvest.
The average per unit yield of corn, rice and soybeans has increased in Northeast and Northwest China, as well as on the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain in North China.
The ministry sent expert teams to help with harvests and released guidelines for South China to help it combat the impact that drought and high temperatures have had on the growth of rice and corn.
Hong Jiantao, a farmer in the city of Shangqiu, Henan province, said he is confident that his corn and soybeans will have a good harvest this year.
He said that he is expected to make around 34,500 yuan $4,800 per hectare.
Technology has played an increasingly important role in the country's agricultural development.
In Shangshui County, Henan province, while harvesting sesame manually was carried out this year, combine harvesters helped local farmer Liu Tianhua reap 9 hectares of sesame in less than a day.
This year, Liu planted a new variety of sesame that can be harvested by machine because its stems are stronger than other varieties. The change will save him more than 50,000 yuan in labor costs, according to China Central Television.
Cao Zhibin, an expert at Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said the rice variety developed by his team is more resilient in high temperatures than most other varieties and can achieve a 650- kilogram yield per mu despite the prolonged heat and drought this year.