Winter wheat planting progresses quickly, high-quality wheat acreage increases this year
This year, domestic winter wheat planting has progressed quickly and with good quality, laying a solid foundation for a bumper wheat harvest next year. It is understood that this year's autumn crops were cleared from the fields quickly, which helped farmers prepare the land for sowing, and after the autumn harvest, northern regions experienced rainfall several times, which increased soil moisture and was suitable for winter wheat sowing. Of particular note is that since this year's new wheat came onto the market, domestically produced high-quality wheat has commanded high prices and sold well, which has led to an increase in the sown area of high-quality wheat.
According to information released by the agriculture department of Hubei Province, winter wheat in the province has basically finished being sown, and the area has increased. During this year's autumn sowing period, Hubei Province took coordinated development of grain and oil crops, optimization of regional layout, and improvement of production efficiency as its starting point, and in accordance with the pattern of “wheat in the north, rapeseed in the south, vegetables in the suburbs”, focused on building the advantageous wheat industry belt in northern Hubei. The winter wheat sown area is expected to increase by 500,000 mu over last year. In recent years, the quality of wheat in Hubei Province has continuously improved and its sales range has continuously expanded, making it one of the main wheat supply provinces in southern China.
It is also understood that winter wheat planting in Henan Province has already reached 70%—80%. Since September, most areas of Henan Province have experienced continuous rainfall, which effectively replenished soil moisture and was conducive to sowing winter wheat at the right time and with suitable soil moisture, greatly improving the overall sowing quality of winter wheat in Henan Province compared with previous years.
“‘New Wheat 26’ seeds sold out this year, which shows how high farmers' enthusiasm is for sowing high-quality wheat this year.” Liu Xianzhen, a wheat breeding expert at the Xinxiang City Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Henan, told a reporter from the Futures Daily that since this year's new wheat came onto the market, ordinary wheat and high-quality wheat have consistently maintained a price difference of more than 0.2 yuan/jin, and traders and flour milling enterprises have been very enthusiastic about purchasing high-quality wheat, so high-quality wheat has no trouble selling at all. Therefore, when sowing this year, many farmers increased the sown area of high-quality wheat. According to the reporter's understanding, at present the ex-warehouse price of “New Wheat 26” in Xinxiang and other places in Henan is 1.50—1.52 yuan/jin, while the ex-warehouse price of ordinary wheat is 1.28—1.29 yuan/jin.
Hebei wheat trader Zheng Yingkai said that except for small plots in hilly and mountainous areas that have not yet been sown, winter wheat planting in Hebei Province has basically ended. Similar to the situation in Henan Province, farmers in Hebei Province are also relatively enthusiastic about sowing high-quality wheat, and sales of high-quality wheat seeds suitable for local planting, such as “Shiluan 02—1” and “2018”, have increased noticeably. It is expected that the output of high-quality wheat in Hebei Province will increase somewhat next year. At present, the ex-warehouse price of ordinary wheat in Hebei Province is 1.30—1.31 yuan/jin, and the ex-warehouse price of “Shiluan 02—1” is 1.51 yuan/jin.
As of now, planting in major winter wheat-producing provinces such as Shandong, Shaanxi, and Jiangsu is also nearing completion. Against the background that mechanized harvesting, mechanized tillage, and mechanized sowing accounted for a very large proportion of the area this year, the winter wheat sowing time in all localities was earlier than last year, and sowing quality improved to varying degrees. In addition, unlike last year, when all localities encountered relatively dry weather during winter wheat sowing, this year the soil moisture in wheat fields in all localities is very sufficient.