Summer Grain and Oil Harvest Has a Foundation

On April 20th, in Gongyi Town, Pengshan District, workers at the Shuzhi Rice Demonstration Base raised seedlings in the fields (drone photo). Pengshan District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, located in the Chengdu Plain, has accelerated the construction of the digital intelligence rice demonstration base in recent years. Through the introduction or customization of circular intelligent seedling raising machine, intelligent rice seedling raising and sowing assembly line, seedling tray intelligent transmission belt and other equipment, the technology content of spring plowing has been improved and production efficiency has been improved.

April 20th is the Gu Yu solar term, marking a critical period for spring plowing and sowing. According to the agricultural situation scheduling of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the progress of spring planting and preparation is currently smooth, and nearly 20% of the national spring planting grain has been completed, with a slightly faster progress compared to the same period; The summer harvest crops are growing well, the area of winter wheat is steadily increasing, and the summer grain and oil harvest has a foundation.

Zeng Yande, Chief Agronomist and Director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced that since the beginning of this year, agricultural and rural tribes have implemented the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, paid close attention to policy implementation, strengthened guidance services, and fully focused on spring agricultural production, focusing on ensuring summer grain, stabilizing spring sowing, expanding beans, and increasing yield per unit area.

It is understood that the current grain production presents three characteristics:

——The summer harvest crops are growing well. According to the agricultural situation scheduling of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the area of winter wheat has steadily increased. Currently, the proportion of first and second class seedlings is 90.5%, 2.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

——The preparation for spring plowing is progressing smoothly. Nearly 20% of the national spring sowing grain has been completed, and the progress is slightly faster than before. Among them, 60% of early rice has been planted and 10% of corn has been sown. The intended planting area for grain throughout the year was over 1.77 billion acres, increasing for four consecutive years.

——Boost the planting of soybean oil crops. This year, for the first time, the task of soybean production has been included in the assessment of party and government responsibilities for food security, and a package of support policies and measures for soybean production has been introduced, mobilizing the enthusiasm of farmers to grow beans. At present, the task of planting soybean oil crops has been implemented in provinces, cities, and counties.

Grasping spring sowing is crucial for ensuring stable and safe food supply throughout the year. Pan Wenbo, Director of the Planting Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated at the meeting that relevant departments have taken four key measures to ensure spring plowing production:

One is to make every effort to stabilize the area. Recently, the central government allocated a one-time subsidy of 10 billion yuan to actual grain farmers. According to agricultural scheduling, it is expected that the intended planting area for grain this year will be over 1.77 billion acres, of which 950 million acres will be sown in spring, a steady increase from the previous year.

The second is to ensure the supply of agricultural materials. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant departments, plays a role in the inter ministerial coordination mechanism of agricultural materials to coordinate and solve problems in agricultural material production and supply. Compared with the previous three years, the progress of seed, fertilizer, and pesticide placement this year is fast, the total supply of agricultural materials is sufficient, and prices are stable but slightly lower. Currently, the average placement rate at the provincial, municipal, and county levels is over 95%.

The third is to comprehensively implement policies to increase yield on a large scale. This year, we will carry out a large-scale action to increase the yield of major grain and oil crops, and promote the improvement of yield in 200 key corn counties through the restructuring system. We will guide local research on the main direction, technical plans, work mechanisms, and supporting measures, and implement key measures for increasing production in the field.