Xinhua Perspective | The Northeast Granary Safeguards China’s Rice Bowl

In 2025, Heilongjiang Province achieved 22 consecutive bumper harvests in grain production. After breaking through 160 billion jin for the first time in 2024, its total grain output stood firm at this level again, reaching 164.006 billion jin, ranking first in China for 16 consecutive years.

Heilongjiang takes growing more grain and growing better grain as its primary responsibility, pursuing simultaneous improvements in both yield per unit area and grain quality, and acting as the “stabilizer” for national food security.

Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, located in the heart of the Sanjiang Plain, boasts vast fertile fields and solid agricultural foundations.

Data from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Heilongjiang Province shows that in 2025, both the province’s total grain output and average yield per unit area hit record highs. Its grain output increased by 3.97 billion jin, ranking first nationwide, accounting for 23.6% of the national grain increment, 4.4 percentage points higher than the 19.2% recorded in 2024.

Jilin · Lishu

Scientific farming holds the key to higher yields. In Lishu County, Jilin Province—a major national grain-producing county—the Fenghuangshan Agricultural Machinery Farmers’ Specialized Cooperative has applied modern technologies such as intelligent farmland environment monitoring systems and remote monitoring systems for agricultural machinery operations, transforming traditional farming into automated, mechanized and intelligent practices. These systems provide important guidance for precise fertilizer application and precise agricultural machinery operations.

From the traditional “ground-stacked” grain storage to ventilated grain depot storage, scientific grain storage not only reduces post-harvest losses of corn but also safeguards food security.

Jilin Province has fully implemented the strategy of “storing grain in land”. At the same time, focusing on the key link of seeds, the province has vigorously carried out the seed industry revitalization campaign and promoted the application of new high-yield and high-quality varieties, raising the contribution rate of improved varieties to grain yield increase to over 45%.

While enjoying the joy of harvest, local farmers have already begun selecting improved seeds to make full preparations for spring plowing in 2026.

In recent years, Jilin has continuously strengthened seeds—the “chip” of agriculture. Relying on the Changchun National Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Demonstration Zone and the Sanjiang Laboratory, the province has built a breeding center for cold regions and set up six provincial-level breeding innovation platforms. It has promoted innovation and joint research between scientific research institutions and enterprises, accelerating the breeding of major breakthrough varieties such as high-yield, dense-tolerant and mechanized-harvest corn, high-quality taste and salt-tolerant rice, and high-yield and high-oil soybeans.

Liaoning · Tieling

In 2025, Liaoning Province’s total grain output reached 51.556 billion jin, up 3.1% year on year, with the growth rate ranking first among major grain-producing provinces.

Behind these figures stands Tieling City, a major agricultural city in Liaoning. With 13.8% of the province’s grain sown area, it produced about 16% of Liaoning’s total grain output, laying a solid foundation for the province’s bumper harvest.

In 2025, the Shengtai Agricultural Machinery Service Specialized Cooperative in Changtu County adopted an innovative integrated technical model, achieving an outstanding yield of 1,136 kilograms per mu.

High-standard farmland is essential for high grain yields. The black soil, known as the “giant panda of cultivated land”, underpins Tieling’s bumper harvests. Building high-standard intelligent farmland and carrying out scientific farming are the secrets behind Tieling’s increasing grain output.

Inner Mongolia · Hinggan League

Hinggan League in Inner Mongolia is an important national grain-producing region. In recent years, the local government has taken loss reduction and efficiency improvement as key measures to ensure food security, focusing on promoting four scientific grain storage models: three-dimensional storage, centralized storage, commissioned grain storage, and direct grain harvesting.

It has provided three-dimensional grain bins for scattered smallholder farmers and hardened yards to build centralized storage sites, allowing grain to be “stored upstairs” and “put into warehouses”. This practice effectively prevents moisture and rodent damage, avoids mold and losses caused by traditional ground-stacked grain, and precisely reduces corn moisture through natural air-drying, thus guaranteeing grain storage quality at the source.