Xinhua News Agency+| Yuanying Village | Village on the Night of Central Plains Wheat Harvest. 7th | Xinhua All Media+

Yuanying is an ordinary village in Huaxian County, Henan Province, known as the "Number One Wheat County in China".

In the evening, the crowd enjoying the cool breeze at the village entrance gradually dispersed, and the machines in the wheat fields were still hissing. The lights of the harvester illuminate the wheat fields under the night sky, and rows of wheat are rolled into the belly of the machine and beaten into grains; Grain trucks shuttle on the field roads, and wheat shavings dance in the lights

Henan is the largest province in summer grain production in China.To fully leverage the advantage of grain production, we should focus on building an important core area for grain production in the country, promote grain storage in the land and technology, steadily improve grain production capacity, and have new responsibilities and achievements in ensuring national food security.

On the evening of June 7th, the harvester rushed to harvest in Yuanying Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Haoran

Since the wheat harvest this year, the Central Plains, which accounts for more than a quarter of the country's wheat production, has suffered from "rotten rain". The word "grab" is prominent in Henan, and "grab" is frequently performed at night. On the night of the 7th, the reporter followed the night harvest team of Yuanying Village and witnessed the "Central Plains Wheat Harvest Night".

Yuanying Village in Zaocun Township, with 930 acres of arable land, entered the wheat harvest on the 6th and reached its peak on the 7th.

"It must be collected in two days and two nights!" Wu Dongxing is both the village party branch secretary and the captain of the collection team. On the evening of the 7th, there were still about 300 acres of wheat waiting to be harvested in the village. The night is the wheat harvest deadline set by Wu Dongxing for the entire village. "Now the whole country is paying attention to wheat harvesting, and we should quickly bring back the people's wheat safely, which is to contribute to food security!" said Wu Dongxing.

On the evening of June 7th, the village branch secretary Wu Dongxing communicated with the agricultural machinery operator about harvesting precautions. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Haoran

At the moment when the night light was turned on, Yuan Rong instinctively emitted a bright light with his tired eyes. This is already his 29th consecutive day of fighting for wheat harvest this year. "On May 10th, I went to Hubei with two harvesters, and now I have harvested over 3000 acres of wheat." The reporter sat on Yuan Rongsui's harvester, and every time he saw it colliding with utility poles, raised ridges, and buried pipes, Yuan Rongsui could easily avoid it without any panic. "In previous years, we rarely worked overnight. This year, the weather was bad and farmers were in a hurry to harvest. We basically didn't stop 24 hours a day," Yuan Rong said.

Neglecting to eat is the norm for Yuan Rong and many machine operators during the wheat harvest period. In the cockpit of the harvester, the reporter saw that in order to save time, these operators who got off the ground at six or seven in the morning and often had their second meal in the middle of the night often had ham sausages and drinks in their cars.

Yuan Rongpeng is one of the four village cadres in Yuanying Village and also a skilled operator. In order to seize the land, Yuan Rongpeng and his 70 year old father Yuan Haishen formed a "father son army". Yuan Rongpeng drove the harvester, and Yuan Haishen took advantage of the gap between unloading the wheat from the harvester to wipe off the dust on the windshield and add oil to the harvester.

On the evening of June 7th, agricultural mechanic Yuan Rongpeng drove a harvester to grab wheat. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Haoran

As one of the earliest operators in Yuanying Village, Yuan Haishen said, "Agricultural machinery is becoming more and more advanced, and harvesting is also faster. The earliest harvesters didn't even have a cab, and now new agricultural machinery can operate 24 hours a day without any problems."

It's late at night, and there are fewer and fewer villagers waiting to harvest on the ground. Geng Yimeng, a village official from the Zaocun Township Health Office, is still on duty at the village head. Since Henan entered the "Three Summers" in late May, Geng Yimeng has been stationed in Yuanying Village, cycling into the village in the morning and returning home in the middle of the night. "Patrol and coordinate every day, and do whatever work is lacking," said Geng Yimeng.

At eleven o'clock at night, the roar of the harvester finally came to a brief pause. "I'm nearing my physical limit and haven't eaten for a day. If I don't rest, the operator can't bear it." With Wu Dongxing's greeting, the operator and the recovery team returned to the village headquarters one after another. After more than ten minutes, the harvest team, who had finished dinner, headed towards the late night wheat fields again.

Returning to the warehouse is the last step in seizing. The northern region of Henan, where Huaxian County is located, is an important seed production base in Henan. All the wheat fields in Yuanying Village are seed fields. In order to help farmers sell in a timely manner, Yuanying Village signed purchase agreements with multiple local cooperatives before harvesting. Huaxian Tongchuang Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative has ordered 500000 kilograms of seeds from Yuanying Village. At 12:30 pm, approaching the end of the harvest, the warehouse vacated by the cooperative during the day has gradually been filled.

On the evening of June 7th, the harvester rushed to harvest in Yuanying Village. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Haoran

Returning good seeds to the warehouse is the final chapter of Yuan Ying's overnight harvest and also the hope for a bountiful harvest next year.

Since the wheat harvest this year, in response to adverse weather conditions, Henan Province has introduced a series of emergency harvest measures to ensure the summer grain harvest. Many villages in the Central Plains have experienced a night of harvest like Yuanying Village. The province has also set a historical record of investing 138500 combine harvesters per day, harvesting 15.43 million mu of wheat per day, and harvesting over 8 million mu of wheat overnight, becoming a microcosm of nationwide wheat harvest.

Statistics show that as of 17:00 on June 8th, 186 million mu of winter wheat have been harvested nationwide, with a harvest progress of 61%. During the same period, Henan harvested 77.79 million mu of wheat, accounting for approximately 91% of the province's planting area.

Reporter: Ren Jiawei