Xuancheng and Xuanzhou: Creating a Model for High Quality Rice Production Pilot Area

In the golden autumn, in Wuxing Township, Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, a demonstration township for high-quality rice production and reconstruction, rice has matured gradually, and the heavy rice ears are full, entering the harvest period.

In the rice fields of the thousand acre “Zhefengnuo 188” core demonstration area in Goucun Village, Wuxing Township, machinery roars and rice harvesters shuttle back and forth in the golden rice fields. As the gears of the harvester rotate, the grains and straw are separated in an orderly manner. After the machine drives, rows of neat rice stubble are left behind. The cutting, threshing, and crushing processes of rice straw are completed in one go, creating a busy and bountiful harvest scene.

“In recent years, rice planting in Xuanzhou District has been market-oriented and developed towards high-quality and specialized rice production.” Li Zhi, deputy director of the Plantation Bureau of Xuanzhou District, introduced that since 2021, Xuanzhou District has integrated projects and funds involving the agricultural sector, led by the agricultural sector, and devoted itself to creating a model of a thousand mu high-quality and specialized rice production pilot area.

In 2021, the demonstration township of high-quality rice production and reconstruction system in Xuanzhou District will be settled in Wuxing Township. “On the basis of careful research and listening to the wishes of farmers, we established two core demonstration areas in Wuxing Township, promoted the planting of a single variety ‘Zhefengnuo 188’, and at the same time strengthened technical guidance for farmers to improve the rice yield per unit area.” Huang Lei, agronomist of the Plantation Bureau of Xuanzhou District, said that the grain production standards in the demonstration area were unified, and concentrated on creating a model of high-quality and dedicated grain production pilot area.

Standardized planting drives the improvement of regional production level. In 2021, the planting area of Wuxing Township will be around 20000 acres, and the planting area of the two core demonstration areas will be nearly 3000 acres. The unit yield of rice is 613 kilograms per acre, calculated at 2.8 yuan per kilogram, and the output value of the demonstration area is about 4.5823 million yuan. Through unified seed procurement, unified production management, and the use of new technologies such as drone aerial seeding, a cost savings of 20 yuan per acre has been achieved.

The key to a good project lies in its implementation. Each high-quality rice core demonstration area shall erect a sign with a list of personnel from the project construction leadership group and technical guidance group printed on it. During the implementation of the project, the Plantation Bureau of Xuanzhou District popularized the application of rice green production, scientific fertilization, unified control of rice pests and diseases, agricultural machinery and agronomy combination and other high-yield rice cultivation technologies. Farmers’ grain planting technology has been greatly improved, and they have really benefited from planting high-quality special rice.

The thousand mu grain production base in Wuxing Township is just a microcosm of the modernization of grain industry in Xuanzhou District. Since 2021, Xuanzhou District has focused on the construction of high-quality special rice demonstration areas. This year, three demonstration areas with a single variety planting area of 5000 mu and one demonstration township with a reorganized system have been completed in the whole district. With the project area as the radiation drive, the area of high-quality special rice planting in the whole district has accounted for more than 65% of the rice planting area. The area of special rice production orders has been implemented and more than 490000 mu, and a total of 752000 mu of high-quality special rice demonstration base has been established.