As autumn harvest season is approaching, farmers across China are busy reaping crops and fruits by mainly applying mechanized harvesting while embracing another bumper harvest.
Since September, more than 190,000 mu (about 12,667 hectares) of rice in Suiyang County of southwest China's Guizhou Province has embraced the mature period.
Farmers were busy reaping rice, and harvesters were operating at full capacity across the fields. Local authorities have worked to enhance the construction of agricultural infrastructure, formulate planting plans in advance, step up the popularization of technologies, cultivate talents of agricultural machinery, implements various measures to increase grain production and organizes professional service teams for agricultural machinery, effectively improving the comprehensive production capacity of grain and driving the efficient and high-quality development of agriculture.
In Beitun City of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 143,000 mu (about 9,533 hectares) of sunflowers is bracing for the harvest season.
By optimizing planting techniques, promoting disease-resistant varieties, and rotating crops, local farmers have seen another bumper harvest of sunflowers this year, with an increase of about 30 kilograms per mu (about 0.067 hectare).
"I've planted 210 mu (about 14 hectares) of sunflowers this year. Now all sunflowers have been harvested, with the yield reaching about 320 kilograms per mu, which is 30 kilograms higher than last year," said Dong Yifan, a local farmer.
This year, the estimated yield of sunflowers will rise to about 36,000 tons in Beitun City. The harvest is expected to be completed in mid-September, and the processed sunflower seeds will be exported to more than a dozen cities at home and abroad.
Currently, it is the harvest season for pears grown in Korla City of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. And more than 400,000 mu (about 26,667 hectares) of pears have gradually matured and entered the harvest period.
Thanks to the favorable weather, the Korla pear, which is known for its fragrance and juicy flesh, has seen a bumper autumn harvest this year, with the total output expected to reach more than 390,000 tons.
"I have a pear orchard of 150 mu (about 10 hectares), and the yield of pears is more than one ton per mu this year, which means an income of 3,000 yuan per mu. And my annual net income is more than 200,000 yuan," said a local farmer.
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, so the market demand for pears is large. We pick pears in the field and then directly send them to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in east China. The daily sales earn about 300,000 to 400,000 yuan, with a sales volume of about 20 tons," said Zhanghui, head of fruit and vegetable sales.
This year, local government of Korla City has rolled out the standardized management mode to improve variety breeding, planting technology, the integration of water and fertilizer and pest control, with the ratio of commodity pears soaring by 20 percent.
More than 100,000 mu (about 6,667 hectares) of high-quality pear garden have been newly built in 2024.
Farmers across China busy reaping autumn bumper harvest
Farmers across China busy reaping autumn bumper harvest
Sam Hou Fai, who got elected by an overwhelming majority as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Sunday, is poised to bring positive change to the area, according to a scholar.
Sam won the election with 394 votes in favor out of 398 valid ballots. Song Man Lei, president of the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive Election, announced Sam as the winner.
According to Macao's Chief Executive Election Law, an election is valid if two-thirds of the 400-member election committee are present to vote. To be elected, a candidate must receive support from more than half of the committee's members, which is at least 200 votes.
Speaking with China Global Television Network on Sunday, Wang Chao, the assistant dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Macao, said Sam's success is inevitable because of a number of reasons.
"First of all is his engagement with the local community, which means he listened to the voice of the public. In the last two months of time and in the newspaper, we always saw him actively engaged with different sectors and local community, visiting them and listening to their views and concerns. Secondly, I think is his detailed policy proposals. His policy agenda identifies several key issues facing Macao. And the solutions he offered in his policy agenda to address these issues are actually supported by the general public," Wang said.
Since Macao returned to the motherland in 1999, Macao has achieved success in numerous areas. It is often regarded as a model for implementing the One Country, Two Systems principle, with impressive economic vitality, social stability, and strong sense of national identity and belonging.
Once a small town with a sluggish economy and a lack of social security, Macao has emerged as a safe and prosperous metropolis with international acclaim in merely a quarter century.
In 2023, Macao's per capita GDP grew by 80.5 percent year on year to 559,000 patacas (around 70,000 U.S. dollars), more than four times the figure in 1999.
The unemployment rate also dropped significantly from 6.3 percent then to 2.7 percent in 2023.
The city has also drawn upon its unique history to build up distinctive advantages as a major platform linking China and Portuguese-speaking countries and has actively participated in the Belt and Road Initiative.
When being asked about potential changes and continuities for Macao under Sam's leadership, Wang listed three areas, namely institutional capacity development, economic diversification and social welfare improvement.
"The first is to enhance institutional capacity in the public service which he considers as a key to promoting high-quality development in Macao. And the central idea here is a citizen-centered approach. And second is the economic diversification to reduce Macao’s dependence on the gaming industry with a goal of a long-term sustainability of the region, and for here the changes that we may find is a better business environment that is more friendly to the development of new industries, such as the traditional Chinese medicine and the high-tech," he noted.
"And in relation to this economic diversification is the talent development. From this part, we anticipate that there will be more highly-qualified professionals attracted to Macao that will enhance the competitiveness of the region, and there will be more cooperation between universities in Macao and mainland that will provide more opportunities for Macao’s students and to improve educational quality in Macao," Wang continued.
"Lastly, on his policy focus, on how to improve social welfare and what we will see from here might be changed on social security, housing, public health and accessibility to public service, which will, I think, improve the living standards or the quality of life of local residents. I believe his policy agenda has the potential to bring positive change to Macao," the scholar said.
Newly elected chief executive designate to bring positive changes to Macao: scholar
