Farmers are busy sowing in Baise, Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on February 25, 2023. Photo: VCG

As the ancient Chinese saying goes, "one year's plan starts with spring." At present, it is the time for spring sowing and preparation for the production of the whole year. Across China, farmers are seizing the opportunity to make a good start for the year, hoping to have a good harvest.

This year, China will add 45 million mu (3 million hectares) of high-standard farmland and upgrade 35 million mu of farmland.

During the spring plowing period this year, more than 22 million units (sets) of various agricultural machinery and tools will be utilized across the country, providing strong mechanized support for a bumper harvest of summer grain, people.cn reported.

In Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the spring wheat cultivation of 300,000 mu of land has officially started. Local agricultural technicians are also on-site to guide farmers and teach them the key techniques in cultivating spring wheat.

In the tea gardens of Youfangling village in Shangnan, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, tea bushes are sprouting new buds and tea farmers are working hard to tend to them. The tea plantation in the village has expanded to over 20,000 mu, and the local government has developed an eco-friendly tea garden with a "farming + tourism" development model that is tailored to local conditions.

The railway system has also opened a "green channel" for the transportation of agricultural materials and has strengthened its loading and unloading organization to speed up spring farming material circulation, providing a strong transportation support for spring farming and helping boost agricultural production, the People's Daily reported.

In early February, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held a national meeting on spring plowing and preparation work, requesting all regions to closely monitor the work of spring plowing and planting.

It urged local regions to implement effective measures for wheat and rapeseed field management, stabilize soybean planting area, integrate large areas to increase yields, and strive to achieve a bumper harvest of grain and oil later this year.

The meeting urged that agricultural and rural departments of all levels must fully recognize the importance of ensuring this year's grain production from a global perspective. It also called for all departments to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring national food security.

Global Times

Spring plowing in Qianjin farm, Zhanjiang of South China's Guangdong Province on January 30,2023 Photo: VCG

Villagers care for vegetables in the field in Congjiang, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, on February 18, 2023. Photo: IC

A farmer drives an ox-drawn plow as part of the festival to welcome the spring plowing in Rizhao, East China's Shandong Province, on February 19, 2023. Photo: VCG

Farmers from the Lixiahe Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Yangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences plow and manage the experimental fields in Yangzhou of East China's Jiangsu Province on February 20, 2023. Photo: VCG

Left: An agricultural technician uses a drone to fertilize wheat in Zaozhuang, East China's Shandong Province, on February 19, 2023. Photo: IC