In recent days, the town of Longbo in Shuangpai County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, has witnessed a bountiful harvest of late rice across its 27,000 acres.
In the core production area of double-season rice in Jiangxi Village, the rice fields are filled with heavy, plump grains. Large-scale farmer Li Xiaobing has contracted over 700 acres this year to grow rice and is currently overseeing machine operators navigating the fields to ensure that every grain is accurately harvested.
“The efficiency of mechanical harvesting is impressive,” Li stated. “With just two harvesters, we can complete hundreds of acres in a single day. We finished harvesting over 200 acres of mature rice in just two days.”
To optimize the farming schedule, Li has adopted a segmented harvesting strategy based on time and area. Having prepared seeds for rapeseed and fertilizers, he immediately begins planting rapeseed as soon as a section of late rice is harvested. He estimates that this crop rotation system could increase the economic income by 500 yuan per acre.
This year, Longbo Town’s late rice planting area covers 27,000 acres, and the harvesting is expected to be fully completed by late October. During this period, the local government has been actively promoting mechanization across the entire agricultural chain, from plowing and transplanting to field management and harvesting, thanks to supportive policies.
Yujian Shui, the deputy mayor of Longbo Town, explained, “Today, mechanized operations have significantly improved planting and harvesting efficiency, allowing farmers to start cultivating the next season’s crops sooner.”
In recent years, Shuangpai has accelerated the late rice harvest through incentives for social services and mechanized harvesting. The town has actively promoted a “late rice + rapeseed” rotation model, transforming “idle winter fields” into “prosperous lands.”
“The town is also encouraging the community to utilize the idle rice fields after harvesting to plant crops like rapeseed and radishes, not only enhancing field utilization and economic benefits but also promoting the transformation and upgrading of agriculture,” Yujian Shui added.
