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The foundation for a bountiful summer grain and oil harvest is solid.
Release Time:
2024-05-27
Currently, winter wheat in the northern regions is at the jointing and booting stage, winter wheat in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has already headed and flowered, and winter rapeseed has entered the grain filling and maturation period. On April 19, Li Jinghui, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that the Ministry is fully committed to winter and spring agricultural production, effectively responding to the freezing rain, snow, and cold wave weather this past winter and spring, strengthening technical guidance and services, promoting the transformation and upgrading of crop conditions, and gradually laying a solid foundation for a bumper grain and oil harvest this summer.
Currently, winter wheat in the northern regions is at the jointing and booting stages, winter wheat in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has already headed and flowered, and winter rapeseed has entered the grain filling and maturation period. On April 19, Li Jinghui, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that the Ministry is fully committed to winter and spring agricultural production, effectively responding to the freezing rain, snow, and cold wave weather this past winter and spring, strengthening technical guidance and services, promoting the transformation and upgrading of crop conditions, and gradually laying a solid foundation for a bumper grain and oil harvest this summer.
"According to the agricultural situation dispatch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the area of winter wheat has slightly increased steadily, with 91% of seedlings classified as first and second class, showing better growth than last year and the average year; the area of winter rapeseed has slightly increased, with 85.1% of seedlings classified as first and second class, better than last year and comparable to the average year," said Li Jinghui. Specifically, the slight increase in winter wheat area is attributed to suitable soil moisture conditions in the main production areas during last autumn's sowing and favorable wheat market prices, leading to full planting wherever possible. Under the guidance of the national rapeseed expansion subsidy policy, southern regions have fully utilized winter fallow fields to expand winter rapeseed planting through rotation models such as rice-oilseed and rice-rice-oilseed, expecting an increase of over 2 million mu in winter rapeseed area. Experts analyze that this year winter wheat basically achieved "three types of overwintering": overwintering with sufficient soil moisture, overwintering with green coverage, and overwintering under snow cover. After regreening, the weather has been generally normal, with proper fertilization, water management, weed control, and disease prevention measures in place. The growth of jointing and booting seedlings is better than before winter, better than the regreening period, and also better than last year and the average year. Good seedling conditions have laid the foundation for a bumper harvest.
Summer grain output accounts for more than one-fifth of the total annual grain production, and summer oil accounts for 40% of the total annual oil production. Moreover, summer grain and oil are the first season of the whole year's grain production, making the initial success of summer grain and oil production of great significance for the entire year and overall situation. In February this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs organized a 120-day campaign to strive for a bumper summer grain and oil harvest, focusing on high and stable yields and high-level increases, emphasizing key regions and critical farming periods, intensifying field management, strengthening disaster prevention and mitigation, dispatching working groups and scientific teams to concentrate on production guidance, yield improvement, disaster prevention and control, and pest and disease control from the "Rain Water" solar term to the "Summer Solstice" solar term, striving for a bumper summer grain harvest and laying a solid foundation for the annual grain and oil production.
Since the launch of the campaign, localities have responded quickly to safeguard the summer grain harvest. Recently, Henan Province held an on-site meeting for the unified prevention and control of major wheat pests and diseases and disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, deploying major pest and disease control and disaster prevention and relief work, striving to achieve the summer grain output target of 76 billion jin. The control of wheat Fusarium head blight in Nanjing City is proceeding orderly, with 57 service guidance groups established at both city and district levels, visiting villages, farmers, and fields to supervise and guide farmers in scientific pesticide use and timely control measures, further improving the technical implementation rate of control measures.
Currently, rapeseed is being harvested successively from south to north, with about 40 days remaining before the large-scale harvest of winter wheat. Pan Wenbo, Director of the Crop Production Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that the next step for the Ministry will focus on three aspects to fully ensure the initial success of summer grain and oil production.
First is to "seize the grain from pests." Currently, it is the window period for controlling wheat stripe rust and Fusarium head blight in the Jianghuai and Huanghuai wheat regions. Especially with three recent rainfall events in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and southern Henan, there may be a "three-way meeting" of rainy period, flowering period, and pathogen infection period, significantly increasing the risk of Fusarium head blight outbreaks. "Fusarium head blight can only be prevented, not cured, so the prevention task is very arduous. We will guide localities to carry out unified prevention and control and mass prevention and treatment in a timely manner. Spray pesticides when flowers appear during flowering, and spray again at full bloom to basically control Fusarium head blight," said Pan Wenbo. In addition, aphid control during the ear stage should also be well managed later.
Second is to focus on fertilizer and water regulation to increase grain yield. It is reported that this year the central government continues to implement the full coverage policy of "one spray and three preventions" for wheat, mainly to protect the number of wheat ears, increase the number of grains per ear, and increase grain weight, promoting the increase of wheat yield per unit area. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will dispatch expert groups and scientific teams to provide zoned and classified guidance to implement mid-to-late stage fertilizer and water management measures, guiding localities to carry out "one spray and three preventions" operations timely and efficiently.
Third is to "seize the grain from the dragon's mouth." Formulate emergency plans to respond to lodging, "dry hot wind," especially "rotting field rain," issue timely warnings and forecasts before wheat harvest, adjust and allocate harvesting machinery, prepare crawler harvesters and mobile dryers, and strengthen operator training to ensure that every grain is harvested and stored.