China: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stresses the efficiency of wheat harvesting

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian has visited areas hit by wheat-damaging rains in Central China’s Henan province, demanding local officials to beef up early-warning weather monitoring and insurance companies to compensate farmers that suffer damages as soon as possible.

In a move to guide local officials to cope with the rains that have raged a vast stretch of areas in the country’s major wheat producing province since May 25, the minister went to Zhumadian, Luohe and Xuchang cities on Thursday and Friday, according to a media release from the ministry on Monday.

Tang not only visited wheat farmlands that suffered different levels of damages, but also sites for grain drying, the release said.

Summer harvesting and sowing are currently a top priority of agricultural work, and the harvest and drying of wheat is an overwhelming task, he stressed.

Local officials should closely follow weather changes and issue early warnings in a timely fashion, he said. Emergency harvest operations should be carried out sufficiently.

“Once the weather is good, every second should be seized to harvest, no matter if it’s day or night,” he said.

Aside from fully tapping the potentials of dedicated drying facilities, he said, local governments should open up all possible spaces for farmers to dry their wheat, such as paved roads (excluding highways), squares and school playgrounds.

He asked insurance companies to optimize their work process so that all famers who have suffered losses can be compensated as soon as possible.

Tang also visited Chengan county, Hebei province to learn about the growth of wheat and local authorities’ preparation work for extreme weather events.