Hubei Races Against Rain to Secure Summer Wheat Harvest

Golden wheat waves roll across Hubei’s countryside in May, but prolonged rainy weather has posed a severe threat to the crucial summer harvest. The province has launched an urgent mobilization, with officials and farmers working hand in hand to seize every brief spell of fine weather for rush harvesting.

In the continuous wheat fields of Xingqi Village, Lishan Town, Sui County, five combined harvesters rumbled back and forth, rapidly reaping, threshing and loading the golden ears of wheat. For local grain growers, the timely arrival of harvesting teams has eased their worries about possible germination and mildew of wheat caused by sudden downpours.

Hubei Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued an urgent notice as waterlogging and lodging occurred in some wheat fields due to constant rains. It required round-the-clock intensive harvesting across the region, stipulating that mature wheat should be harvested, threshed and transported immediately to ensure no grain is wasted.

To support cross-regional harvesting, farm machinery reception stations have been set up at expressway entrances in Zhongxiang City, where staff remain on duty 24 hours a day to assign farmland plots and guide routes for outside operators. Many farm machinery operators from Henan rushed to Hubei overnight and received harvest orders as soon as they exited the expressway, devoting themselves to minimizing losses for local farmers.

As night falls, wheat fields remain brightly lit. In Qinghe Management Area of Nanzhang County, Xiangyang City, harvesters kept working in the dark with continuous roars. Tricycles and agricultural vehicles loaded with freshly threshed wheat streamed toward cooperatives one after another. Some farmers had booked farm machinery two days in advance and seized the night hours to harvest, with yields reaching over 500 kilograms per mu for many plots.

While rush harvesting presses on, grain drying has become equally urgent to maintain quality and ensure safe storage. At a drying plant in Muqu Village, Yancheng Sub-district of Yicheng City, hot air surged out as wheat grains poured down through conveyor pipes. Workers were busy with feeding, quality inspection and loading. The plant has operated non-stop since mid-May, capable of drying 300 tons of grain daily to meet the needs of over 6,000 mu of wheat fields in the village. Local grain growers noted that the drying facilities have solved the long-standing problem of grain deterioration caused by humid weather in previous years.

Hubei has deployed more than 90,000 sets of agricultural machinery for harvesting and drying operations. The province has boosted the enthusiasm of cross-regional operators through subsidies and accommodation guarantees, and included mechanized harvesting and drying of wheat and rapeseed in the scope of agricultural socialized service subsidies. Smart agricultural technologies also played a role, with Beidou-equipped harvesters improving operational efficiency by over 10 percent in key producing areas.

Xinhua provided images showing the wheat harvesting scene in Xiaonan District of Xiaogan City and the grain drying process at a plant in Xiangyang City. China News Service reported that Hubei’s wheat harvest progress has exceeded 93 percent, and the rapeseed harvest is drawing to a close. With favorable weather forecast for early June in central and eastern Hubei, the province is on track to complete the entire summer harvest smoothly.