Agricultural mechanization provides strong support for summer grain harvesting | Equipment | Mechanization

After a moment of wheat ripening, the value lies in the competition. This year, the large-scale machine harvesting of wheat in the "Three Summer" period began on June 2nd, rapidly advancing from south to north. As of June 20th, 9 provinces including Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Shanxi have harvested 301 million mu of winter wheat, with a harvest progress of 99%. The wheat harvest in Hebei, Shandong, and Shaanxi has entered the final stage, and the wheat harvest in Shanxi is about to come to an end. The large-scale machine harvest in the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Hai areas has basically come to an end. The front line of summer harvest is a showcase of agricultural technology equipment in China, and agricultural mechanization effectively ensures summer grain harvest.

"Thanks to the large agricultural machinery, the harvest is fast and efficient," said Gao Xin, a villager from Dawu Village, Luhe Township, Zhengyang County, Henan Province. As soon as he finished selling the new wheat he had planted, he tirelessly planned for the next season's sowing. "The peanut planting and sowing machine entered the field, and in half a day, 15 acres of peanuts were sown."

In late May, Henan Province experienced widespread and continuous rainfall, posing challenges to wheat harvesting. "Our village's wheat fields are flooded and we urgently need a tracked harvester." On the early morning of June 2nd, Gaoxin dialed the county's "Three Summers" cross regional operation duty phone number. In less than an hour, farmer Wang Xiaodong drove a tracked harvester to the field and put it into the rush to harvest. By noon, he had already harvested 15 acres of wheat.

——Agricultural mechanization is the biggest confidence for this summer's harvest.

Yin Qiming, director of the Agricultural Machinery Technology Center in Zhengyang County, said that the county has invested 7500 harvesters to ensure that the "abundant harvest in the field" of wheat is "in hand". In Henan, with the linkage of provinces, cities, and counties, precise scheduling, and the use of market-oriented cooperation mechanisms in agricultural machinery cooperatives, we have been continuously harvesting wheat day and night. In half a month, over 85 million mu of wheat in the province has been harvested by machine. This year's "Three Summers", a total of 16.5 million various types of agricultural machinery and equipment were invested nationwide to carry out mechanized operations for summer harvest, summer planting, and summer field management. Harvesters rushed to the fields one by one, helping to store summer grain particles.

Behind the constantly refreshing progress of wheat harvest is the strong support of agricultural technology equipment. In the past decade of the new era, China's agricultural machinery and equipment have achieved leapfrog development, with efforts in research and development, manufacturing, and promotion of applications, breaking through core technologies, expanding application scenarios, and being able to produce over 4000 agricultural machinery products, meeting 90% of the domestic market demand. High performance new agricultural machinery such as Beidou Navigation high-power tractors, passenger transplanters, and self-propelled corn combine harvesters are widely used. Digital technology is deeply integrated with modern agricultural machinery, making agricultural production more precise and efficient. Among them, the total number of plant protection unmanned aerial vehicles exceeds 130000. At present, the harvesting of staple crops in China has basically achieved mechanization, with yields of wheat, rice, and corn exceeding 97%, 94%, and 78%, respectively.

"Modern technological equipment is the biggest confidence for summer grain harvest and a strong support for building an agricultural power," said Liu Luxiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Crop Science Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. With new technology and strong equipment, continuously optimized and upgraded agricultural machinery, it helps with grain harvest.

——Agricultural mechanization brings about changes in production methods.

Summer harvest and summer planting are intertwined, transforming "three summers" into "two summers". In Juzhen Village, Yucheng City, Shandong Province, a combine harvester entered the field. Chen Guangfeng, a major grain grower, had just finished harvesting over 700 acres of wheat. The straw returning machine and intelligent compound seeder continued to enter the field, completing the entire process from stubble removal to sowing in one go. "Smart agricultural machinery demonstrated its skills, allowing for a one-stop harvest and real-time monitoring of seed and fertilizer application, laying a solid foundation for a bountiful autumn harvest," Chen Guangfeng said.

From skilled farming to intelligent farming, various regions are efficiently promoting the connection between harvesting and large-scale application of high-performance smart agricultural machinery to ensure maturity, harvest, and sowing. Looking at the fertile fields, using plant protection drones for pesticide spraying, precise fertilization can be achieved by clicking on the phone screen, and the BeiDou navigation intelligent integrated seeder has a planting distance error of no more than 2 centimeters... With various intelligent agricultural machinery equipment, such as aerial, ground, and internet connection, it showcases its skills. The integration of cultivation, management, and harvesting, as well as intelligent operations, make mobile phones a new agricultural tool, and villagers carry the "golden pole" for farming.

In the past decade of the new era, grain production has achieved a "dynamic transformation". The contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress has increased from 54.5% in 2012 to 62.4% in 2022, and the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting has reached 73%. The foundation of the granary of a large country is constantly being strengthened.

——Agricultural mechanization is an important guarantee for saving grain and reducing losses.

In the demonstration square of Qianmu in Xitunzhuang Village, Yuangu Town, Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province, the intelligent Beidou navigation harvester roars, the reel rotates, cuts, threshes, separates, and unloads grains in one go.

"In the past, the loss rate of harvesting wheat was around 3%, due to inaccurate operation at the turning point, where the harvester wheels would crush the wheat. The intelligent BeiDou navigation harvester automatically adjusted according to the dry and wet conditions of the wheat and the boundaries of the plot, and operated accurately, greatly reducing machine harvesting losses." Agricultural machinery operator Chen Ruixiang said that this year's "Three Summers", he participated in training organized by the district and achieved first place in the wheat machine harvesting and loss reduction skills competition.

"If you harvest quickly, you need to harvest well. We have clear standards for indicators such as straw stubble height and machine harvesting loss rate." Zhang Wei, Deputy District Mayor of Feixiang District, introduced that the district organized agricultural machinery experts to provide machine harvesting loss reduction training for operators, guiding various agricultural machinery cooperatives to tap into their potential and effectively reduce wheat loss rate.

During the summer harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs organized a technical tour to provide guidance, focusing on two key factors: good condition of machinery and standardized operation of operators, striving to improve the quality of machine harvesting operations, reduce losses, and enhance the quality of machine sowing operations to promote yield per unit. In areas not affected by cloudy and rainy weather, there is a potential for further excavator harvesting and loss reduction. Under normal conditions, the wheat harvesting and loss rate in most areas is controlled at around 1%.

——Agricultural mechanization is a powerful support for achieving a bountiful harvest of grain.

Grain trucks queue up at the HSBC Garden Drying Center in Longkang Town, Huaiyuan County, Anhui Province. Upon seeing the urgently harvested wheat being dried and stored, grain grower Zhuo Changfei said, "The wheat harvest caught up with cloudy and rainy days, fortunately it was dried in time, and this year's wheat sales were not affected." It is reported that there are 1352 grain dryers in the county, with a batch processing capacity of over 20000 tons, effectively ensuring the quality of grain and reducing postpartum losses.

Currently, agricultural mechanization in China has extended from the main crop cultivation and harvesting process to the entire process of straw treatment and drying. Not long ago, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and six other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Drying Capacity in Grain Production Areas", proposing to accelerate the filling of facilities and equipment shortcomings, establish a reasonable layout and complete system for drying grain production areas, basically meet the drying needs of national grain production areas, have complete emergency drying operation capabilities, and significantly reduce post production losses of grain.

"The regional distribution of drying equipment in China is' more in the south and less in the north '. In recent years, the waterline has shifted northward, and the demand for post harvest drying of wheat and corn in the north has rapidly increased. Accelerating the improvement of drying capacity in grain production areas is of great significance for ensuring national food security," said Wang Fengzhong, director of the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Strong technological equipment is an important characteristic of an agricultural powerhouse. On the front line of summer harvest, various regions have taken extraordinary measures to harvest wheat, making every effort to do a good job in summer planting and management. The fields and fields are stirring up technological momentum to strengthen food security support and guarantee. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has proposed to increase policy support in the next step, promote the creation and application of advanced agricultural machinery, promote the comprehensive integration and development of modern information technology and various fields and links of grain production, and provide more solid support for promoting agricultural modernization and building a strong agricultural country.

In the fields, grain production is being pushed forward, and various advanced agricultural machinery is galloping and rushing. Accelerating the realization of high-level agricultural technology self-reliance and self-improvement, and vigorously improving China's agricultural technology level, we will definitely be able to give "technological wings" to accelerate the construction of an agricultural power and promote agricultural modernization.