Autumn is a prime time for farmland infrastructure repair and soil improvement. Proper preparation, including land leveling, straw incorporation, and ditch dredging, not only improves farmland quality but also creates favorable conditions for spring plowing and crop growth the following year. Tractors, with their powerful traction and flexible adaptability, are essential equipment for autumn preparation operations. They accelerate the implementation of the "Storing Grain in the Land" strategy, laying a solid foundation for improving farmland quality and ensuring national food security.
In the agricultural demonstration zone of Jiangyan District, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, dozens of tractors are busy in the fields, creating a bustling scene of autumn preparation. A tractor equipped with a scraper blade moves at a steady pace, gradually leveling the uneven ground after the autumn harvest to a flat surface, keeping the height difference within 3 centimeters. "Before, the land was uneven, so high areas were dry and low areas were flooded during irrigation. This meant we had to apply 20 cubic meters of water per acre, which also affected crop growth. Now, after leveling, irrigation uniformity has improved by 30%, saving 15 cubic meters of water per acre," said Chen Koulin, a farmer in the demonstration area. In addition to land leveling, straw return is also a key part of autumn landscaping. A tractor-driven straw shredder crushes corn and rice straw into fragments less than 10 centimeters in diameter, which are then turned into the soil 20 centimeters deep by a rotary tiller. According to estimates, straw return increases soil organic matter by over 150 kilograms per acre, equivalent to applying 300 kilograms of organic fertilizer, reduces soil bulk density by 0.1 grams per cubic centimeter, and significantly improves air permeability. During ditch dredging operations, tractors pull silt removal devices, effectively clearing silt and weeds from irrigation ditches, reaching depths of up to 80 meters. centimeters to ensure smooth irrigation water flow next year and avoid irrigation delays caused by clogged ditches.
To accelerate the progress of autumn farmland preparation, local governments have increased investment in agricultural machinery. Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and other provinces have included autumn farmland preparation work in agricultural machinery subsidies, allowing farmers to use tractors for autumn farmland preparation work, receiving subsidies of 15-25 yuan per mu. At the same time, agricultural machinery cooperatives have been organized to provide "continuous autumn farmland preparation" services, reducing costs and improving efficiency through large-scale operations. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has also deployed 12,000 agricultural machinery technicians to provide technical guidance and troubleshooting services in the fields, and has held autumn farmland preparation skills competitions to improve the performance of agricultural machinery operators. To date, 85% of the planned autumn farmland preparation work has been completed nationwide, covering over 800 million mu of cultivated land. Tractors have contributed over 90% of this work, raising the national average farmland quality grade by 0.02 notches compared to last year, providing a solid foundation for high agricultural yields and increased income next year.
