Xinjiang, the new granary of China

During the spring plowing season, in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, four intelligent driverless seeders, precisely guided by Beidou satellite navigation, can complete the sowing of 5,000 mu of wheat in about 10 days. Moreover, precise drip irrigation can be carried out within 48 hours after sowing.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg of Xinjiang's full - scale grain production.

01 Dominating the List

When it comes to major grain - producing areas, people usually think of Heilongjiang, Henan, Shandong, Jilin, and Anhui. Indeed, they have consistently ranked among the top five in total grain output for many years.

In particular, Heilongjiang has ranked first among China's grain - producing provinces for 15 consecutive years.

However, in terms of yield per unit area, Heilongjiang lags behind, ranking outside the top 20 in recent years.

Who is the champion in yield per unit area?

Since 2017, the answer has been increasingly surprising.

That year, Shanghai, an international metropolis, surpassed Jilin to become the champion in yield per unit area.

After that, Shanghai held the top position for seven years.

In 2024, a place that people rarely associate with grain production surpassed Shanghai to become the new king of yield per unit area — with a grain yield of 524.8 kilograms per mu, 33% higher than the national average.

It is Xinjiang.

At this moment, Xinjiang finally achieved the first - place ranking in the country for the first time in history. Before that, during Shanghai's seven - year reign at the top, Xinjiang ranked second five times.

Behind the first - place ranking in yield per unit area, Xinjiang's main grain crops, wheat and corn, have almost monopolized the large - area yield records in their respective categories:

The yields per mu of wheat in areas of 100 mu, 1,000 mu, and 10,000 mu have set national large - area high - yield records of 795.8 kilograms, 756.2 kilograms, and 720.39 kilograms respectively;

The yields per mu of corn in areas of 1,000 mu, 10,000 mu, and one million mu have set new national large - area high - yield records of 1,550.15 kilograms, 1,392.7 kilograms, and 1,164.7 kilograms respectively.

Behind the outstanding performance in yield per unit area, Xinjiang's total grain output has also been continuously increasing.

In 2023, Xinjiang's total grain output exceeded the 20 - million - ton mark, reaching 21.192 million tons. Historically, it has changed from "self - sufficiency with a slight surplus within the region" to "having a surplus within the region and supplying the country", becoming the provincial - level region with the largest grain surplus among those with balanced production and sales.

In 2024, while ascending to the throne in yield per unit area, Xinjiang's total grain output reached 23.302 million tons, an increase of 2.11 million tons compared with the previous year. This increase is equivalent to providing an additional 3 catties of grain for each person in the country.

From 2020 to 2024, Xinjiang's grain output increased by 7.468 million tons, accounting for 20.2% of the national increase, also ranking first in the country.

The output of 23.302 million tons is higher than the total output of Zhejiang, Fujian, Tibet, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Hainan combined. It also elevated Xinjiang's ranking in the national total grain output to the 13th place.

Moreover, as the quantity has increased, the quality has also improved.

In 2024, the proportion of first - class wheat in Xinjiang reached 96%, ranking first in the country, nearly 30 percentage points higher than the national average.

In the past, if you called Xinjiang the "home of cotton" or the "home of fruits", the people of Xinjiang might not have minded.

But now, please call it — China's new granary.

02 Increasing Grain Output with Technology

In people's stereotypical view, Xinjiang has little to do with grain production. Its arid climate, scarce precipitation, and fragile ecosystem are also unfavorable for grain production.

Once upon a time, Xinjiang indeed suffered from a shortage of grain. In the early days of New China, its total grain output was only 1.1 million tons, accounting for only 0.97% of the national total.

How did Xinjiang transform from a region with scarce grain resources into a high - yielding grain - producing area? First of all, the construction of modern agriculture has continuously improved its grain - production conditions, including changing the fate of relying on the weather for harvest.

One of the most crucial and fundamental factors is the construction of high - standard farmland.

The large - scale construction of farmland in Xinjiang by the production and construction corps led by General Wang Zhen has continued until today. If the production and construction corps era relied on hard work and determination, today's Xinjiang agriculture combines technology with determination.

Once, Xinjiang's farmland was "scattered, fragmented, and small". In some areas, the land was severely salinized and desertified, with "tiny plots" and "patchy fields" everywhere. But now, these scattered plots are being integrated into large - scale fields, and salinized and desertified lands are being transformed into new fertile fields with the support of technology.

By the end of 2024, Xinjiang had built a total of 59.89 million mu of high - standard farmland, accounting for 72.8% of the permanent basic farmland.

This proportion is 76% in Shanghai and about 60% in Heilongjiang.

It is precisely the high proportion of high - standard farmland that has supported the significant increase in Xinjiang's grain yield per unit area.

Some agricultural experts have stated that through the construction of high - standard farmland, grain production capacity can generally be increased by about 10%.

Data from Xinjiang shows that after the construction of high - standard farmland, the yield per mu of wheat has increased by more than 5%, and that of corn has increased by more than 20%.

High - standard farmland not only increases production but also unleashes technological productivity and amplifies human labor.

Wang Haiyan, a villager from Yongku Tuanjie Village, Qiman Town, Kuqa City, told reporters that in the past, the fields were scattered, with the largest being no more than a dozen mu. It was very labor - intensive to water the fields as one had to travel several kilometers. Now, there is no need to go to the fields for irrigation. One can control automated agricultural machinery on a mobile phone, and a single person can manage more than 200 mu of land.

The agricultural production model has also changed accordingly. The land has been concentrated, giving rise to large - scale farmers and intensive management that reduces costs and increases efficiency. As a result, high - yield and increased income have become natural outcomes.

In 2023, the yield per mu of wheat in this village increased from 300 kilograms before the construction of high - standard farmland to 700 kilograms.

What has increased is not only grain production capacity but also income and a better life.

In the past, everyone farmed the land, but the yield was low, and the income was meager, making life difficult for everyone.

Now, large - scale farmers can make money from farming, and farmers can earn money by leasing their land. They can also make money by working or doing business outside instead of farming. Under this more efficient model, the land - leasing fee has increased from dozens of yuan per mu to 900 yuan.

Relying on the construction of high - standard farmland, Xinjiang has also pushed the coverage rate of high - efficiency water - saving projects and water - fertilizer integration technology in the fields, which are also supported by technology, to the top, 53 percentage points higher than the national average.

Now, the construction of high - standard farmland provides a foundation for "digital farming".

In Xinjiang, farming is no longer just a physical task; it involves more and more mental work. In the reports of central and local media, scenes of increasing grain output with technology can be seen everywhere.

For sowing, there are driverless seeders equipped with the Beidou navigation system. With a simple tap on the screen, a set of parameters for sowing depth and row spacing are instantly generated. Subsequently, operations such as sowing, laying drip - irrigation tapes, mulching, and covering with soil are completed in one go.

"The Beidou - guided driverless seeder sows seeds evenly and in straight rows. It also lays drip - irrigation tapes simultaneously, which facilitates our later management and harvesting," Abdurehim Alim, a villager from Qetag Village, Bachu County, told reporters. Although he is busy, he doesn't feel tired.

In a corner of Abdurehim's yard, the old manual sowing tools are gathering dust while the seeder drives straight ahead in the field.

Asiya Abdurehim, the Party branch secretary of the village, also said that in recent years, the wheat sown by the Beidou - guided driverless seeder has achieved high and stable yields, which has increased the villagers' enthusiasm for planting winter wheat.

Field management no longer relies on farmers going to the fields.

In the 600 - mu field of Zhu Limin, a grower in Manas County, sensors and Internet of Things devices are installed. Through them, the intelligent water - fertilizer integration irrigation system can monitor real - time information such as soil moisture and nutrient content and precisely deliver water and fertilizers to the roots of crops according to their growth needs.

"In the past, irrigation relied on experience, but now it relies on data." Zhu Limin told reporters that with this system, he can remotely control irrigation and fertilization through a mobile phone app while sitting at home, which is both worry - free and labor - saving.

In the sky, there are also plant - protection drones. With Beidou positioning, route planning can be accurate to the centimeter level. Uneven spraying, missed spraying, and repeated spraying of pesticides and fertilizers are all things of the past.

"In the past, when we carried sprayers to apply pesticides, we could cover only a small area in a day, and it was both tiring and inefficient," Ye Jianzhong, a farmer in Jimsar County, said. Now, a drone can cover dozens of mu in an hour, with higher pesticide utilization and lower costs.

Gaominghui, a drone operator, said that the plant - protection drone is equipped with advanced radar and sensors, which can automatically adjust the flight altitude and spraying volume according to the terrain and crop height.

"There is a lot of knowledge in growing good grain! If one masters all the technologies involved in grain production, farming will become easier and the harvest will be more stable," Song Hongwei, a large - scale grain grower in Emin County, told reporters. With the advancement of high - standard farmland construction and the application of various technologies in the local area, Song Hongwei has become more confident in grain production. In 2024, he planted more than 3,000 mu of wheat.

Now, technology is also accelerating the transformation of deserts and salinized lands into grain - producing and fertile fields.

In Tumushuke City, on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, a piece of abandoned land with high salinity has been transformed into 24,000 mu of fertile fields. Cotton is planted in April. After the cotton is harvested in late October, winter wheat is replanted. After the winter wheat is harvested at the end of June the following year, millet is replanted. Both land output and farmers' income have increased.

If salinized land can produce grain, so can deserts.

The wheat planted in the desert in Kashgar had a yield of more than 260 kilograms per mu last year.

In addition to these, the increase in Xinjiang's grain output is also related to the adjustment and optimization of the planting structure. Behind this is a larger and more important strategy.

03 No Worries with Grain in Hand

In recent years, in Xinjiang, "two increases and one adjustment" have guided the work of increasing grain output.

The "two increases" refer to an increase in the planting area and the yield per unit area. The "one adjustment" refers to the adjustment and optimization of the planting structure: within the grain - growing sector, stabilizing wheat production and expanding corn production; overall, moderately reducing the planting area of cash crops and expanding the area for grain production.

In 2024, the grain - planting area in Xinjiang was 44.4 million mu, an increase of 2.029 million mu compared with the previous year, ranking first in the country in terms of the increase. Compared with 2020, the increase was 10.95 million mu, also ranking first in the country, accounting for 28.6% of the total increase.

Behind the increase in grain production is the reduction in the planting area of some crops with better economic returns.

In 2024, the cotton - planting area in Xinjiang was 36.7185 million mu, a decrease of 810,000 mu compared with 2020; the fruit - tree planting area was 21 million mu, a decrease of 1 million mu compared with 2020.

Food security is of national significance. Among all things, food is the most important.

The increase in some areas and the decrease in others, even sacrificing some for the increase in grain production, are all for this "national priority".

"Some crops have higher immediate economic returns, but considering the service and contribution to the 'national priority', Xinjiang clearly and firmly focuses on grain production," a relevant official from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang said.

Currently, climate change and geopolitics have raised concerns about global food security, and China is no exception.

According to a report by the World Food Programme, the global food - security situation deteriorated in 2024. The number of people facing hunger increased by 10% compared with the previous year, and the level of food insufficiency returned to about 15 years ago.

The root cause is not that there is not enough food globally but that the food bowls of developing countries are in the hands of developed countries.

China has a population of more than 1.4 billion. Relying on others to solve the food problem is clearly unreliable. Only by firmly holding the food bowl in our own hands can we have no worries with grain in hand.

In 2024, China's total grain output exceeded 1.4 trillion catties, remaining stable above 1.3 trillion catties for 10 consecutive years. The per - capita grain possession is about 500 kilograms, far higher than the internationally recognized safety line of 400 kilograms.

However, at the same time, as the world's largest grain producer and consumer, China's total grain demand continues to rise, and structural contradictions still exist.

China imports about 150