As the nation enters the peak season for autumn grain harvests, there’s a concerted effort across the country to tackle the challenges posed by agricultural machinery. This year has seen a notable surge in the adoption of innovative machinery in the harvesting process.

In partnership with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has initiated pilot projects in several regions, including Gansu, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Heilongjiang, focusing on research, manufacturing, and promotion of agricultural equipment. Their goal is to develop high-powered, compact farming tools.

At Chahayang Farm, part of the Heilongjiang Beidahuang Group, a substantial number of domestically produced large harvesters and tillage machines are in use this autumn. This has significantly enhanced both efficiency and quality of work, with the proportion of domestic machines rising to 87%.

“Efficiency has really skyrocketed,” remarked Song Li, a farmer from Chahayang Farm. “What used to take seven to eight days can now be done in just three to four days.”

Meanwhile, in Xinjiang, cotton harvesting has also kicked off. The latest numbers from the China Cotton Association, under the National Supply and Marketing Cooperative, indicate that the area devoted to cotton planting in Xinjiang has seen a slight increase this year, with overall growth outpacing previous years. Expected yields are anticipated to rise by 5% to 10% compared to last year. At present, over 7,000 cotton-picking machines are operational in the region, achieving a mechanization rate of 88%, with more than half being developed domestically. This development is crucial for supporting autonomous cotton harvesting in China.

Tan Zengjin, an operator of cotton-picking machines with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, shared, “This cotton-picking machine can harvest 40 acres per hour, allowing for about 500 acres in a single day.”

Moreover, efforts are underway to boost mechanization rates for “niche crops.” In Xiangcheng, Henan province, 120,000 acres of sesame are being harvested on a large scale. Traditionally, sesame was hand-harvested due to its tendency to drop when disturbed, which restricted its cultivation. This year, the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences has introduced a new sesame variety that is suitable for machine harvesting. They have also worked alongside local agricultural machinery cooperatives to enhance the efficiency of sesame harvesters, making large-scale collection feasible.

Miao Hongmei, deputy director of the Sesame Research Center at the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, explained, “By ensuring our variety resists seed loss and is suitable for mechanized harvesting, we’ve further refined the crops to lower plant height and increased yield levels by over 20%, which, in turn, has boosted farmers’ enthusiasm for planting.”