In recent years, major agricultural provinces in Southwest China, such as Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, have bent every effort to boost grain production through optimized and innovative production methods.
By introducing advanced agricultural technologies and improving land management, these regions have effectively boosted grain output and promoted sustainable agriculture, providing a solid foundation for national food security.
High-Standard Farmland
Sichuan, a major grain-producing province known as the “granary” of western China, achieved a 26-year-high grain output in 2023, reaching 35.94 million tonnes.
Through comprehensive efforts, including improvements to farmland and seed quality, the province has provided substantial support to the nation’s food supply.
Farmland is crucial for the cultivation of crops. The improvement of high-standard farmland in Sichuan has unlocked significant agricultural potential and made farm work more efficient.
Wang Yuanwei, a successful farmer from Yongfeng village on the southern edge of the Chengdu Plain, recalls a time when each household farmed fields dispersed across various locations. Locals referred to these plots as “palm-sized fields” or “chicken-claw fields.”
Yongfeng is part of the core area of China’s western granary. Thanks to the development of high-standard farmland, once scattered and irregular plots have been transformed into well-organized agricultural land.
“These measures have enabled fully mechanized planting,” said Luo Jianbin, a 49-year-old farmer who manages over 133 hectares of farmland in Qionglai city.
“The full mechanization of operations, including sowing, transplanting and fertilizing, has improved efficiency, reducing seed production costs and making our work much easier,” Luo said.
In 2023, Sichuan’s high-standard farmland area totaled 4.2 million hectares. Data from the provincial agriculture and rural affairs department showed that Sichuan had 34,500 large-scale grain farming households in 2023, each cultivating plots of 2 hectares or more, marking a 26.4% increase from 2022.