After more than three years of deep cultivation, the peanut industry has increased yield per mu by nearly half
“Last October, a foreigner came to my family's field to look at the peanuts. Seeing how well the peanuts were growing, he picked up a bunch of peanuts and started studying them……” The foreigner mentioned by Yu Minggang, a farmer from Liangcun Town, Gaotang County, Shandong Province, is the chief expert of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
Why did the chief expert come to the village? He came specially to study peanut planting techniques.
Gaotang County is located in the old course of the Yellow River, and farmers have always had the habit of planting peanuts. In the past, yields were relatively low, but in recent years they have increased substantially. Feng Ning, head of the Planting Management Section of the county's Agriculture Bureau, explained that this was thanks to the implementation of the central government's peanut subsidy project, the demonstration and promotion of high-yield supporting technology for single-seed precision sowing of peanuts, and the achievement of full mechanized production.
This year is already the fifth year that Gaotang County has implemented the peanut subsidy project and the third year of demonstrating and promoting high-yield supporting technology for single-seed precision sowing. Over the past three years, the average peanut yield per mu reached 427.3 kg, an increase of 47.3% over the county's average annual yield per mu, and in recent years the average benefit has reached more than 1,100 yuan. The increase in yield promoted the expansion of planting area, and in recent years the county's perennial peanut planting area has remained at 100,000 mu.
Wang Hongfeng, a peanut expert at the county's Agriculture Bureau, told this writer: “Since the county undertook the peanut improved-variety subsidy project in 2011, the Agriculture Bureau has continuously strengthened ties with universities and research institutes, established a ‘scientific and technological internet,’ and attracted a large number of scientific and technical personnel.”
“Last year I planted Huayu 22, with a yield of 900 jin per mu. In the past, I always saved my own peanut seeds, and the yield was only about 600 jin, and the kernels were not plump, so they were hard to sell.” Li Hongmu, a large peanut grower in Liangcun Town, Gaotang County, told this writer excitedly. Since the county vigorously promoted the planting of improved peanut varieties, peanut yields increased by 100-200 jin per mu simply from using improved varieties.
In order to drive the development of the peanut industry as quickly as possible, in 2012 the county's Agriculture Bureau funded the purchase of 2 seeders and provided free services, focusing on demonstration. Today, the whole county has more than 40 seeding machines and more than 30 harvesting machines. Miao Chuanxun, who is in charge of the peanut project at the county Agriculture Bureau, boldly improved the seeder and solved the bottleneck problem in promoting the “high-yield supporting technology for single-seed precision sowing of peanuts.”
“I have been growing peanuts for more than 20 years. In the past, we always dug holes and sowed seed by seed, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the efficiency was too low. Later, we used manual drilling, which was relatively faster, but my more than 30 mu of land still took three or four days to plant. Since the county got us a peanut seeder the year before last, sowing has been faster and the quality better.” Duan Zhixing, a large peanut grower in Qingping Town, Gaotang County, told this writer.