Across China: Chinese farmer endeavors to increase grain yield with technology

HEFEI, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Xu Congxiang, 69, a major grain grower in Taihe County, east China's Anhui Province, reaped a record bumper harvest in June, with the wheat yield in his demonstration farmland exceeding 800 kg per mu (0.067 hectares).

"In the 1970s, most of China's wheat yield per mu was under 300 kg and many families couldn't have enough food and clothing in the lean year. Now, as cultivation technology continues to improve, our grain output has multiplied," recalled Xu.

A few decades ago when Xu was under 20 years old and just graduated from high school, he returned to his hometown and became a farmer, embarking on his journey of exploring approaches to increase grain yield through science and technology.

Back then, a magnifying glass was Xu's best helper for field observation. Taking a magnifying glass and a notebook, Xu used to set off for the fields at dawn and stayed there until the moon rose.

"At that time, there was no advanced equipment such as an insect monitor. We could only use a magnifying glass to observe the subtle changes in the crops. Some inconspicuous speckles on the leaves could be the signal of the output reduction," said Xu.

During those years, Xu accumulated many record books, which contain detailed information including the time and degree of wind and the growth status of crops.

"Especially in the wheat jointing stage, I will check the satellite cloud picture every day. Only with precise weather information can I take the upper hand in planting," said Xu.

With his rich experience and expertise, Xu summed up 60 proverbs about the methods in the green and efficient cultivation of wheat and promoted them to the surrounding farmers.

In 2010, Xu took the lead in establishing an agricultural planting cooperative. Of the 1,230 mu of his cultivated land, 300 mu was planned for experimentation and the rest was used for demonstration and promotion.

Under his influence, Xu's offspring followed his footsteps to work in agriculture and made more breakthroughs.

His son Xu Jian helped him cultivate high-quality grain varieties in the demonstration field. In 2019, Xu's grandson Xu Xudong also returned to the family's farmland.

Today, magnifying glasses are no longer necessary for Xu Xudong's field research. Instead, advanced equipment such as automatic spore traps, an agricultural automatic monitoring and control system, and an automatic insect monitoring system do the job for him.

"With the help of these monitoring systems, we can observe soil moisture, insect distribution, and rainfall through mobile phone applications. We don't need to stay in the field all day to manually record such data," said Xu Xudong.

Apart from advanced technologies, Xu's family also focuses on breeding high-quality varieties and exploring high-yield cultivation techniques.

On the table in Xu's cooperative are over a thousand carefully marked paper bags, the inside of which are wheat samples of different varieties collected from the experimental field this year.

"Since the beginning of this year, a total of 50 new grain varieties have been planted in the experimental field, and seven experiments have been conducted, including the experiment of increasing the efficiency of new wheat fertilizers," said Xu Xudong.

Over the past 10 years, Xu Congxiang has independently developed four soybean varieties and two wheat varieties with intellectual property rights.

"Previously, it took about 10 years to cultivate a new grain variety. Now, I cooperate with scientific research institutes to cultivate new varieties and experiment with improved planting patterns in the field. Fine varieties and improved planting techniques have helped us achieve high yield," said Xu.

In Xu Congxiang's opinion, China's grain planting technology and skills have changed tremendously over the past decades. "Only through applying science, technology, and machinery to agriculture, and constantly improving grain output and quality, can farmers' income be improved and national food security ensured," he said.

"Modern agricultural science and technology should be applied to help modern farmers increase yield, and this requires continuous efforts from one generation to another," said Xu Congxiang.