China : Summer wheat harvest set to expand nationwide as weather improves
China is preparing for large-scale summer wheat harvesting across major producing regions including Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong as weather conditions improve after recent rainfall. Authorities expect over 17 million agricultural machines, including 800,000 combine harvesters, to support nationwide harvesting and planting operations.
China’s major wheat-producing regions are preparing for a nationwide surge in summer harvesting as weather conditions improve following recent rainfall.
According to the latest update from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, large-scale mechanized wheat harvesting is set to begin across the country in the coming days.
Henan province is expected to launch large-scale harvesting on Thursday, while neighboring Anhui province is likely to follow on Friday. Jiangsu province has already begun scattered harvesting and is expected to enter full-scale operations around Tuesday.
Southern parts of Shaanxi province have also started limited harvesting, with broader operations expected around June 5. Major northern wheat-producing provinces, including Shandong, Hebei and Shanxi, are expected to begin harvesting in early June.
The ministry said weather conditions in key wheat-producing regions such as Henan and Anhui are forecast to improve starting Thursday, creating favorable conditions for harvesting and drying mature wheat.
In southwestern China, harvesting in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, as well as Chongqing city, has been largely completed, while large-scale mechanized harvesting in Sichuan province has basically concluded. Sunny weather is expected to continue there through Saturday, allowing remaining scattered harvesting to finish.
Harvesting in northwestern wheat-producing regions such as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Gansu province is not expected to begin until mid-June. In Central China’s Hubei province, more than 95.5 percent of the harvest has already been completed.
This year, more than 17 million agricultural machines are expected to be deployed nationwide during the summer farming season, which includes summer harvesting, planting and field management. The equipment includes more than 800,000 combine harvesters, with over 200,000 participating in cross-regional harvesting operations.
Heavy rainfall has swept across central and eastern China in recent days, coinciding with the winter wheat maturity period and posing challenges to the harvest.
Authorities and agricultural experts have been mobilized to help farmers minimize crop losses, the ministry said.
Liu Luxiang, chief scientist of China’s national wheat industry technology system and head of the wheat expert team at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said farmers in heavily affected areas should quickly drain standing water and improve field drainage systems.
“Fields with excessive rainfall need to promptly remove accumulated water to ensure fields dry quickly after the rain, reduce waterlogging, and allow agricultural machinery to enter fields for harvesting as soon as possible,” Liu said.
For wheat fields already affected by pre-harvest sprouting, Liu advised farmers to adopt classified harvesting, drying and storage measures to minimize losses.
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Source : China Daily
