In the prefecture-level city of Heze in southwestern Shandong province, Juye county is developing its more of its permanent basic cropland into high-standard cropland, so as to boost its grain output.

The country is calling all regions to develop of all their permanent basic cropland into high-yield cropland, as a way to build up China's strength in agriculture and speed up rural vitalization.

In a construction site of Jiangcun village in Juye, many large machines were roaring in the field on Oct 31, as over 40 workers and machines were working together, showing a busy and orderly scene.

The village in Zhangfeng town is vigorously promoting the 2024 high-standard cropland construction. With a goal of "connecting roads, forming a network of canals, irrigation when a drought hits and drainage when a flood comes," the town is sparing no effort to ensure the efficient and orderly implementation of its project, laying a solid foundation for increasing farmland efficiency and grain output.

"We have organized 10 large machines and let a lot of work be carried out at the same time every day. At present, we are in the process of road leveling, pipe network laying and shaft construction. Later, we will carry out road hardening and other supporting facilities. It is expected that the whole job can be completed by the end of December," said Sun Shuangshuang, construction director of the ongoing project.

"Upon completion of the project, this large area of land in our village will be able to irrigate during a drought and drain amid a flood, which can benefit us a lot. We are very satisfied," said Shang Haiquan, a villager of Jiangcun village, with full joy.

With a total investment of 30 million yuan ($4.22 million), Zhangfeng town's project can develop 666 hectares of high-standard cropland, benefiting five administrative villages of Jiangcun, Sunzhuang, Sancun, Gaomapan and Zhangdong.

After it's fully completion, the level of farmland infrastructure and comprehensive agricultural production capacity of Zhangfeng town will be largely elevated, laying a solid foundation for its rural vitalization.

Since 2019, the county has developed 245,666 hectares high-standard cropland, enabling Juye to net in a total grain output of 685,200 metric tons in 2023, a record high, said Feng Yanli, vice-mayor of Heze and Party secretary of Juye.

Through the promotion of advanced technology and mechanization, the unit yield of grain has been increased and large-scale production was aided, she said.

Currently, modern agriculture in Juye is developing steadily, with focuses on seven dominant industries, she said, adding that they cover grain processing, garlic and pepper, textiles and clothing, meat, ducks, eggs and chickens.

And by extending its industrial chain, the county's number of agricultural and sideline products processing enterprises each with an income of at least 20 million yuan has reached 103, with a total of operating income exceeding 10 billion yuan so far.

In addition, the county's capacity of deep processing of wheat and flour stands at 6,000 tons per day, Feng noted.

At present, the storage capacity of Juye's reserve warehouses has reached 110,000 tons, ranking first in Heze, said Bi Lianjun, director of State-owned Juye Grain Reserve.

As a major crop-producing province, Shandong netted in a total grain output of 56.553 million metric tons in 2023, a record high and ranking third in the country, said Wang Jingdong, deputy director of Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

He noted that in the first half of this year, the province's total grain output reached 27.165 million tons, a rise of 1.6 percent year-on-year.

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