China had completed 96 percent of the annual workload for the summer harvest as of Thursday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Data from the ministry shows that, apart from northwestern regions including Xinjiang and Gansu where harvesting is still underway, all major wheat-producing regions such as the southwest and the Huang-Huai-Hai region that encompasses parts of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Haihe River basins have wrapped up their harvesting. This year's large-scale mechanized wheat harvest across China has essentially come to an end.
The nationwide mechanized summer wheat harvest kicked off on May 28, progressing swiftly from south to north. The bulk of the operation was completed within 22 days, two days faster than last year.
During the peak period from May 31 to June 13, the country averaged more than 16 million mu (about 1.07 million hectares) of daily harvest. In central China's Henan Province, one of the major wheat-producing regions, farmers harvested more than 10 million mu a day for three consecutive days, getting the crucial phase of the rush done in roughly a week.
Technology has been a key driver behind this efficiency. Beyond the use of BeiDou-based operation monitoring systems, this year's summer harvest has also seen the deployment of upgraded domestically produced combine harvesters, with wheeled models achieving a feed rate of 12 kilograms per second and tracked models reaching 9 kilograms per second.
Moreover, the loss rate for grain harvested by machines was kept within a favorable range of below 1 percent across most regions. In some fields across Henan and Anhui provinces, loss rates were even held to around 0.5 percent, providing strong support for securing a bumper summer grain harvest and ensuring China's stable annual food production.
This year, a number of wheat-producing regions received more rainfall than usual, posing challenges to harvest operations, while cross-regional coordination of harvest equipment and other resources helped mitigate the impact.
In mid-May, central Hubei province was hit by persistent heavy rains, leaving a harvest window of only about three days. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs dispatched 13,000 combine harvesters from other regions to support the emergency effort.
Starting June 1, China officially entered its flood season. With the Huang-Huai-Hai region facing frequent showers and severe convection weather at the time, the ministry promptly issued early warnings and mobilized agricultural machinery service centers, regional emergency response centers, as well as emergency service teams to race against the rain and secure the harvest.
China's summer wheat harvest nears completion
