A bumper summer grain harvest is now assured, with the area expected to reach 415 million mu

Over 80 percent of the national summer grain harvest is now complete, with total output hitting a new record

This website reports: At present, over 80 percent of the national summer grain harvest has been completed, and a bumper harvest is now assured. According to agricultural situation monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture and actual harvest results in various localities, summer grain is expected to see another bumper harvest this year, with total output reaching a new record. The main component of summer grain is winter wheat, an important staple food variety, and a bumper harvest is crucial to ensuring absolute security of staple food supplies.

Analyzing the factors making up summer grain output, first, the area increased slightly while remaining stable. It is expected to reach 415 million mu, an increase of more than 1 million mu over the previous year. Second, per-unit yield rose steadily. Experts analyzing the three factors making up wheat output noted that the number of ears per mu increased, the number of grains per ear rose slightly while remaining stable, and the thousand-grain weight declined slightly; overall, per-unit yield increased.

Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu said in an interview that, on the basis of last year's substantial increase in summer grain output, continued increase this year was mainly attributable to stable policies, strengthened science and technology, and effective disaster prevention. The state announced the continued implementation of the minimum purchase price for wheat and maintained price stability, and continued the subsidy policy for key technologies such as wheat “one spray and three preventions”; timely technical guidance services were carried out, scientific disaster prevention and reduction were vigorously promoted, and pest and disease control was especially strengthened, achieving “seizing grain from the mouths of insects.” In addition, weather conditions this year were relatively good, conducive to wheat growth and yield formation, and in particular dryland wheat grew noticeably better than in previous years.

Han Changfu analyzed that this year's bumper summer grain harvest involved not only an increase in output but also two main features: first, greater effort on the word “adjust,” further optimizing the variety structure, with the share of strong-gluten wheat area, for which market demand is large, increasing by 1 percentage point over the previous year. Second, greater effort on the word “transform,” vigorously carrying out high-yield creation, promoting green yield-increasing technical models, controlling pesticides, fertilizer, and water, and achieving high yield and high efficiency, cost savings and efficiency gains, and quality improvement and efficiency gains.

With the summer grain harvest in hand, the bulk of the year's grain production lies in the autumn grain. From the current situation, the spring-sown grain area is stable, summer sowing is advancing in an orderly manner, and autumn grain production has a good foundation, but affected by a moderate or stronger El Nino phenomenon, “floods in the south and drought in the north” may occur in summer and autumn. The Ministry of Agriculture requires all localities to base themselves on fighting disasters to secure a bumper harvest, make scientific judgments, respond actively, reduce the impact and losses of disasters, and strive to achieve the annual goal of stabilizing grain and increasing income.