Spring planting of a single seed yields ten thousand grains in autumn. Currently, the 2.8 million mu of corn in Kaitu County, Tongliao City, is being harvested one after another, and the vast fields are singing a song of abundant harvest. On October 10, in the large contiguous corn fields of Liren Village, Dayushu Town, Kaitu County, large combine harvesters were shuttling back and forth, completing harvesting, ear picking, husking, and straw crushing in one pass. The grain transport vehicles following closely behind quickly filled up with golden corn ears. A corn harvester was conducting harvesting operations.

The reporter observed that while the harvesters moved back and forth and grain carts hurried about, farmer He Jinbao was leisurely chatting with cooperative staff at the edge of the field. He Jinbao said that for over 150 mu of land, he had not worried much or worked hard from planting to harvest, and even had time to take on odd jobs to earn extra income. "Harvesting started yesterday, and by this afternoon this whole field will be completely harvested. In the past, manual harvesting required hiring more than ten people to work for half a month to finish." He Jinbao reflected that farming is now effortless and labor-saving, with a yield of over 2,100 jin per mu. This is not only due to high-standard farmland construction and the application of a series of modern agricultural technologies, but also inseparable from the technical guidance of agricultural departments and the full-process follow-up services of cooperatives. Golden corn ears were poured into grain transport vehicles (Photo by Bi Letao).

Cao Tianqi, a staff member of Dayushu Zefeng Cooperative who was guiding the autumn harvest at the field edge, introduced that the cooperative sets aside 50 mu of land each year as experimental fields to continuously screen high-yield varieties suitable for local climate and soil conditions, and after success, promotes them to surrounding farmers on a large scale. "From seedling-stage fertilization management to late-stage pest and disease prevention and control, we remind farmers in advance, trying to help everyone reduce planting input and increase the income per mu." Cao Tianqi said.

In recent years, Kaitu County has deeply implemented the strategy of "storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology," taking high-standard farmland construction and modern agricultural technologies such as precise regulation of dense corn planting for high yield as core measures to consolidate the foundation of food security and promote agricultural transformation and upgrading. Closely focusing on the development goals of "stabilizing grain, optimizing supply, and increasing efficiency," the county continues to promote the deep integration of agricultural technology and agricultural machinery, striving to achieve increased production on good farmland, improved agricultural efficiency, and increased farmer income. Cao Tianqi (right) and He Jinbao inspected the plumpness of corn kernels (Photo by Ta Caiyun).

Up to now, the county has built 2.79 million mu of high-standard farmland and promoted precise regulation technology for dense corn planting for high yield on 1.86 million mu. The average yield per mu in core demonstration areas has exceeded 1,000 kilograms, setting new records for large-scale spring corn thousand-mu plots in Northeast China for three consecutive years. Among them, the highest average yield per mu in thousand-mu plots reached 1,304.6 kilograms, and the average yield per mu in ten-thousand-mu sections was 1,046.78 kilograms, achieving an increase of over 100 kilograms per mu and an income increase of over 200 yuan per mu. "Now there are technicians teaching us hand by hand at the field edge, water and fertilizer integration facilities providing support, and full-process mechanized operations as a backstop. The old saying 'three springs are not as busy as one autumn' no longer applies—autumn harvest is not so tiring now." He Jinbao said with a smile that relying on scientific farming, he has become a "hands-off boss" and is full of confidence about bringing in the grain safely and steadily increasing income this year.