Cultivating "Invisible Grain Fields" - Looking at the Path of "Whole Chain Grain Saving and Loss Reduction" from the Main Summer Grain Production Areas in Shandong | Wheat | Chain

Everything is leisurely, and eating is important.

In September 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in a congratulatory letter to the International Food Impairment Conference that food security is a fundamental issue related to human survival, and reducing food loss is an important way to ensure food security.

Summer grain accounts for 40% of China's annual grain production, while abundant summer grain ensures stability throughout the year. At the end of summer grain harvest, major wheat producing areas in Shandong, Hebei, Anhui, and other regions have overcome the impact of low temperature weather and pests in the early stages, striving to achieve high yields. On the basis of this, they have focused on mechanical harvesting, drying, warehousing, processing, and other links, focusing on cultivating the "invisible grain field" of saving grain and reducing losses.

Transforming "harvest in sight" into "harvest in hand"

During the wheat harvest season, in the wheat fields of Diantou Town, Linshu County, Shandong Province, the 2023 Shandong Wheat Machine Harvest Loss Reduction Skills Competition kicked off. Ten agricultural machinery drivers drove the machinery at a constant speed, shaving the golden wheat fields into "flat inches".

On June 6, 2023, the Shandong Wheat Harvest and Loss Reduction Skills Competition was held in Linshu County, where agricultural machinery drivers drove harvesters to compete in machine harvesting and loss reduction skills. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng

Harvesting is complete, and the judging team enters to search for the missing wheat grains. "Our group found two locations, a plot of land close to 3 square meters, and the number of wheat grains found was only equivalent to two or three wheat ears." Wang Pengfeng, a staff member of the Linshu County Agricultural Technology Promotion Station, who was counting the "spoils", said that this loss rate was far below the requirement.

During the 8-month growth period, summer grain has undergone numerous challenges and a bountiful harvest has not been easy to come by.

On June 6th, 2023, the Shandong Wheat Machine Harvesting and Loss Reduction Skills Competition was held in Linshu County, and staff were on-site calculating the loss rate. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng

"Last year, shortly after the wheat was sown, it experienced a 'cliff like' cooling, and many wheat seedlings suffered from frost damage." Wei Ruizuo, Secretary of the Qinan Village Party Branch in Qifeng Town, Huantai County, Shandong Province, said that the village party branch led the cooperative to purchase foliar fertilizer and nutrient solution spraying services, and took measures such as returning biogas slurry to the field, stabilizing the yield of 1000 kilograms per acre.

This spring, Anhui Province predicted a high risk of a wheat scab pandemic, with natural occurrences accounting for approximately 95.5% of the planting area. The local government has increased efforts to ensure funding, pharmaceuticals, equipment, and other essential elements. Provincial, municipal, and county governments will raise 650 million yuan by the end of March to timely organize and implement unified prevention and control measures and the replacement of small farmers, thus strengthening the defense line for summer grain harvest.

The rainy weather approaching the wheat harvest has launched a "summer grain defense war" in the Huanghuai Haimai area.

Anhui, which is under great pressure to seize resources, has introduced machinery from Shandong, Jiangsu and other places, and has implemented a 24-hour rush to seize resources; The emergency harvesting service team composed of village cadres and veteran party members is active on the front line of wheat harvesting, mobilizing agricultural machinery to ensure timely harvesting. During the peak wheat harvest period, Anhui province invested over 120000 harvesters per day, with 9.97 million mu of wheat harvested on June 3rd, setting a new historical high.

On June 2nd, at the Mingyuan Planting Professional Cooperative in Zhangzhuang Village, Huji Town, Lixin County, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, a farmer drove a harvester to harvest wheat. Shen Jizhong

Machine harvesting is the first step in ensuring the safety of grain. In recent years, the main wheat producing areas have been continuously improving and updating agricultural machinery, cultivating and improving the quality of machinery operators, and striving to reduce harvest losses.

On June 16th, in Rengezhuang Town, Fengrun District, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, farmers dried and harvested wheat. Photo by Yang Shiyao, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

In the past, I used to operate old-fashioned harvesters and often lost seeds and ears. This year, I spent 150000 yuan to purchase a new type of wheat harvester, which has a higher power and better sealing, and the machine harvest loss rate has been reduced to less than 1%. In Shizhao Township, Nanhe District, Xingtai, Hebei Province, agricultural machinery operator Zhang Junpo is very satisfied with the new agricultural machinery's "less seed loss".

Zheng Yunping, Deputy Director of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Nanhe District, introduced that in order to ensure that machine operators are put into production in the best condition during the "Three Summers" period, Nanhe District has planned in advance to purchase 537 new agricultural machinery and train more than 20000 machine operators through subsidies for the purchase and application of agricultural machinery, in addition to the maintenance of 12000 agricultural machinery.

On June 13th, the harvester harvested grain in Qihe County, Shandong Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Hao

According to industry standards, controlling the wheat harvest loss rate within 2% is considered qualified. As the second largest wheat producing area in China, Shandong has continued to organize a large-scale competition for machine harvesting and loss reduction in counties with a planting area of over 500000 acres of grain crops in recent years. The ability of machine operators has been normalized and improved, reducing machine harvesting losses. This year, under normal operating conditions, the machine harvesting loss rate is expected to be below 1.5%.

Zhu accumulates every inch, and there is a big economic burden behind it. Wang Naisheng, Director of the Agricultural Mechanization Management Department of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department of Shandong Province, said that based on the total wheat production of over 52.8 billion kilograms in Shandong last year, for every 0.1% decrease in the machine harvest loss rate, theoretically more than 50 million kilograms of grain can be recovered, equivalent to "adding" more than 50000 acres of arable land.

This is the scene of the wheat harvesting and damage reduction skills competition, which was filmed on June 1st in Caoji Town, Funan County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Jian

Drying tower and "air-conditioned room" stable quality assurance grain

Entering the Party and Mass Service Center of Xincheng Community in Lingcheng District, Dezhou, Shandong, over 2400 square meters of courtyard were covered with grain, leaving only a few narrow paths. Several villagers shuttle through it, taking care of their own dried wheat.

Linyi County announces public grain drying facilities and "shared wheat drying facilities" for enterprises in its jurisdiction; Some townships in Pingyuan County advocate that workers do not drive to work and vacate "government courtyards" for the public to dry their crops... In order to meet the needs of farmers for drying their crops, public places such as "government courtyards" and village level cultural squares in many townships in Shandong have transformed into temporary drying yards, and the public has praised them.

On June 15th, workers were drying grains at the sun drying yard of Nongbangbang Grain Drying and Storage Service Co., Ltd. in Zibo City, Shandong Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Hao

The proportion of grain loss is high in post production processes such as drying, transportation, and storage. This year, major production areas have significantly strengthened post harvest grain services and focused on reducing losses.

In early June, the reporter saw in the courtyard of Longping Xiaoli Planting Professional Cooperative in Taihe County, Anhui Province that the drying tower was working in a low-temperature mode. More than 1000 acres of new wheat were cleaned by a sorting machine and rushed into the granary through a grain elevator. They were then transported by a conveyor belt to the drying tower. "We are a seed production base with high requirements for wheat quality. The use of a drying tower not only reduces my own wheat mold loss, but also provides drying services for nearly 2 million kilograms of wheat from five large households in the surrounding area," said Yuan Xiuzhen, the chairman of the cooperative.

On June 13th, at the Grain Drying and Storage Service Center in Yancheng Street, Qihe County, Shandong Province, staff monitored the operation of the grain drying tower. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Hao

Faced with adverse weather conditions, Anhui is grabbing the harvest with one hand and drying with the other. The province has invested 17400 drying machines, effectively helping the people reduce food losses.

On June 1st, at Fumeng Farm in Caoji Town, Funan County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province, farmers sorted and dried the harvested wheat. Shen Jizhong

Some areas that meet the conditions have also built public drying and storage facilities to expand service coverage. In Qihe County, Shandong Province, state-owned enterprises have invested in the construction of 16 grain drying and storage service centers in the fields, covering every township. This allows grain to be directly loaded from harvesters and sent to nearby drying and storage service centers without landing, ensuring grain quality and avoiding losses caused by traditional drying methods. It is expected to save 7000 tons of grain annually.

The wheat is stored in an air-conditioned room, and the quality and loss rate are strictly controlled.

On June 20th, a photo was taken of the grain warehouse of the Tangshan Direct Warehouse of China National Grain Reserves Corporation in Haigang Economic Development Zone, Tangshan City, Hebei Province. Photo by Yang Shiyao, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

At China Grain Reserves Fuyang Direct Warehouse Co., Ltd., as summer grain storage began, on-site workers started the nitrogen generator. "Modified atmosphere grain storage can reduce the oxygen content in the warehouse, achieve insecticidal and pest control, and also have a role in inhibiting respiration and reducing loss of grain," said Cui Renli, the head of the Warehouse Management Department of China National Grain Reserves Fuyang Direct Warehouse Co., Ltd.

There are nearly 400 temperature sensors distributed in each grain pile of this grain depot. "Once the temperature of the grain is abnormal, we can detect and adjust it in a timely manner. Through scientific water retention and insulation, the grain can be maintained in its optimal state all year round, delaying deterioration." Cui Renli said that the integrated application of various new grain storage technologies has reduced the loss in the grain storage process from 1% in the past to about 0.6% now.

Comprehensive utilization of invisible "land enhancement"

In the production workshop of Hanxiang Noodle Industry Co., Ltd. in Handan City, Hebei Province, a high-power blower drives wheat to "wander" on the production line, producing flour while extracting embryos that are six times more expensive than wheat.

How many products can be derived from a single grain of wheat?

In Binzhou, Shandong, technological innovation is driving the deep processing and comprehensive utilization of grain. Bi Zhiwei, Deputy Mayor of Binzhou City, introduced that wheat can be processed into more than 500 types of 10 series products, including gluten powder, erythritol, and dietary fiber, locally. The total output per ton of wheat is more than 5000 yuan higher than traditional methods.

With the continuous refinement of grain processing and utilization, it has become the norm to better "eat and squeeze" wheat, and some previously inefficient "scraps" have achieved a "comeback".

On June 21st, the harvester harvested wheat in Nanzhuang Village, Xingcheng Town, Qianxi County, Hebei Province. Photo by Yang Shiyao, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

"The weight of wheat germ accounts for only about 2%, but its nutritional content exceeds 60%. It is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, making it a 'treasure trove' of wheat nutrition." Yang Zhuying, Chief Quality Officer of Hanxiang Noodle Industry, said that fresh wheat germ is not resistant to storage and is prone to fermentation and spoilage. In the past, it could only be sold as a cheap feed ingredient. The company has purchased advanced domestic equipment and achieved synchronous flour processing and embryo extraction, with an annual output of more than 200000 kilograms of wheat germ and a production value of over 20 million yuan.

"Preserving the germ is to save food," said Du Guangxu, an agricultural technology promotion researcher at the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Feixiang District, Handan City. Feixiang District has harvested over 200000 tons of new wheat this year. If all the germ is preserved, it can produce an additional 4000 tons of efficiently utilized grain.

Embryos are used to produce germ oil and protein powder, bran is refined into dietary fiber food, and distiller's grains used to produce alcohol are used for breeding... Grain utilization has shifted from extensive to refined, increasing unit land output while also providing an additional guarantee for China's food security.

While fully tapping into the value of grain, grain processing no longer pursues the principle of "not being tired of the essence of food, not tired of the details of food". In recent years, the "coarse grinding" and "whole wheat" series products have been continuously moving towards high-end, and consumer acceptance has continued to increase, achieving a win-win situation of nutrition, health, and grain loss reduction, invisibly increasing land.

At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the morning of May 11th, Huang Wei, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Grain and Material Reserves, said that in response to the problem of excessive processing in the market, the State Administration of Grain and Material Reserves will increase its efforts in research and development of moderate processing technologies and promotion of achievements, upgrade and transform processing equipment, reduce unnecessary losses and consumption of grain and oil, and improve the yield of finished grain and the comprehensive utilization rate of by-products.

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