As early autumn arrives, the landscape of the Longyuan region is painted with a striking blend of golden and emerald hues, unfolding a magnificent picture of the harvest season. In the Hexi Corridor, seed-producing corn is entering its critical grain-filling stage, with neat rows of tall stalks standing upright and broad leaves glistening under the sunlight. In the Jingtai Yellow River irrigation district, corn fields show densely planted crops with plump ears, signaling a promising harvest. At the potato demonstration bases in Lanzhou New Area and Yongchang County, the crops are vigorously growing after their flowering period, with gentle breezes creating rolling green waves. On the dry highlands of eastern Gansu, freshly harvested wheat stubble remains in the fields, while winter wheat is already storing energy for the next growing season.

Under the province's major special project "Large-area Grain Yield Improvement and Industrialization Application in Cold and Arid Regions" under the provincial science and technology department's research-production integration plan, a collaborative effort led by Gansu Nongken Group Yasheng Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd. and the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, alongside 11 other institutions including Gansu Agricultural University, is underway. Provincial research teams and agricultural business entities are working in concert to refine superior seed varieties and optimize cultivation techniques, tackling industrial challenges such as cold and arid conditions, water scarcity, uneven soil fertility, and yield bottlenecks. A campaign to boost grain production through better land utilization and technological advancement is being steadily implemented across the Longyuan region. Now, drones navigate through fields, drip irrigation pipelines extend across farmland, new improved seed varieties flourish, and green, high-yield technologies are taking root in the fields. From "ton-grain fields" of corn on the loess dry highlands to "super-ton-grain" high-yield fields in the Hexi irrigation district, from breakthroughs in seed-producing corn yields to the first time dryland wheat surpassed 600 kilograms per mu, technology is continuously injecting momentum into significantly raising grain yields across large areas.

Potatoes Thriving on the Gobi: A Path to Industry Quality and Efficiency

At the new potato variety application and demonstration base in Lanzhou New Area, the potato fields stretch endlessly, with vines and leaves spreading layer upon layer, swaying gently in the breeze. The soil beneath one's feet has the characteristic sandy dryness of cold and arid regions. This area, blessed with abundant sunlight and significant temperature differences between day and night, is nurturing a batch of superior potato varieties adapted to high-altitude, cold, and arid environments. Technical personnel move through the field ridges, bending down to part the green vines and carefully inspect and record plant growth and leaf conditions. "The land beneath us has always been excellent for cultivating high-quality potatoes, but in the past, mixed varieties and lagging supporting technologies prevented us from unlocking its full yield potential," explained Liu Jinsa, Business Director of the Science and Technology Development Department at Gansu Nongken Group Yasheng Potato Industry Group Co., Ltd. In 2026, the base is demonstrating and promoting five new potato varieties, including Gannongshu No. 7, Hongfen Jiaren, and Dongnong 310, covering a demonstration planting area of over 2,700 mu. Since spring sowing, the technical team has completed tasks including sowing and seedling establishment, seedling monitoring, and systematic investigation of agronomic traits. With the yield measurement and harvest approaching, technicians are closely monitoring the critical tuber expansion period, preparing for subsequent yield assessments and quality testing to systematically select high-quality processing potato varieties truly suited to the cold and arid regions.

Beyond varieties, the integration of technology is equally crucial. In the potato trial fields of the Yongchang County Fengzeyuan Farmer Planting Professional Cooperative, researcher Ma Mingsheng, Deputy Director of the Dryland Agriculture Research Institute under the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, led his team to inspect the growth status of seven field trials plot by plot. Varieties like Longshu No. 23, Gannongshu No. 7, Purple Star Atlantic, and Yunshu 304 are arranged in sequence, with different planting densities, irrigation amounts, and fertilizer formulas set up in separate zones, marked by prominent trial identification signs between plots. "The potato industry in cold and arid irrigation districts has long faced challenges such as a shortage of high-quality processing-specific varieties, severe water and fertilizer wastage, and inadequate green technology support," Ma Mingsheng noted. The team has been continuously tackling variety selection, dense planting for yield increase, saline-alkali improvement, and selenium-enriched cultivation. They have identified three stress-resistant, high-yield processing varieties—Longshu No. 23, Gannongshu No. 7, and Purple Star Atlantic—which show yield increases ranging from 8.5% to 20.2% compared to the traditional Atlantic variety. In the fully biodegradable mulch film trial area, two types of degradable film with thicknesses of 0.0085 mm and 0.01 mm are compared across different zones. "Without compromising moisture retention and insulation, these films essentially degrade within about a hundred days. This year, the team promoted 4,200 mu of degradable film in high-temperature areas of Lanzhou New Area and Shandan. Follow-up monitoring shows that the film degradation cycle matches the potato growth cycle, leaving no white residue," Ma Mingsheng said while digging into the potato ridge to show that the fully biodegradable film had mostly degraded. "Over years of cultivation, we've found that yields with fully biodegradable film are basically on par with thicker conventional film, but the marketable tuber rate increases by 23.6%. When combined with agricultural subsidies, the per-mu input cost is lower than conventional film, and the cost of residual film recycling is saved, achieving a win-win for ecological benefits and planting income," introduced Zhang Yanzhong, the head of the Yongchang Fengzeyuan cooperative. "Increasing planting density is another key factor for boosting potato yields. Compared to 4,000 plants per mu a decade ago, the density has now reached 6,000 plants per mu, a 50% increase, resulting in an 18.3% rise in per-mu yield. Additionally, spraying organic selenium foliar microbial fertilizer not only increases the selenium content in tubers to meet the selenium-enriched potato industry standard but also enhances the plant's stress resistance and improves internal tuber quality, adding value to the agricultural product," Ma Mingsheng explained. Long-term trials have confirmed that in the saline-alkali land improvement demonstrations at multiple sites in Shandan and Yongchang, compound microbial agents have reduced soil total salt content and electrical conductivity by over 50%, with potato yields increasing by up to 119.53% in some cases. After selenium-enriched cultivation treatment, the organic selenium content in potatoes increased by 113.7% without affecting yield, opening a new path for improving the potato industry's quality. Throughout the area, trial fields, demonstration fields, and propagation fields are clearly laid out. "In the past, growing potatoes relied on weather and experience, but now every step is supported by data," said Fan Tinglu, the project's deputy chief engineer and a researcher at the provincial Silver Age Studio. The research team has gradually matured an integrated technical model encompassing "superior varieties + density regulation + degradable film mulching + microbial improvement + selenium-enriched quality enhancement." In last year's yield tests, the thousand-mu demonstration area achieved an average potato yield exceeding 3.8 tons per mu, a 14.3% increase over traditional cultivation methods.

Corn in the Oasis: Dual Breakthroughs in Irrigation District Yields

At the thousand-mu core demonstration area of Gansu Nongken Group's Tiaoshan Farm in Jingtai County, corn plants over two meters tall stand in neat alignment, clearly showing the wide-narrow row planting pattern—an alternating layout of 65 cm, 35 cm, and 65 cm that ensures every plant receives adequate sunlight. Buried drip irrigation pipelines lie beneath the soil, and BeiDou navigation-guided sowing has left perfectly straight and orderly planting rows. Tan Xuelian, Associate Researcher at the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Dryland Agriculture Institute, noted that the variety demonstrated here is Yudan 1851, designated as Gansu Province's leading corn variety for 2026. "Previously, 4,000 to 5,000 plants per mu was the maximum, but now, through precise density regulation technology, we've increased planting density from the traditional 5,000 to 6,500 plants per mu," Tan Xuelian explained. The increased density isn't simply about planting more; the demonstration area uses 1.45-meter wide mulch film coverage, paired with BeiDou-guided precision seeding, with plant spacing precisely controlled at 20.5 centimeters. Shallow-buried drip irrigation is another core technology here. The drip tape is buried at a depth of 10 centimeters, enabling precise, frequent, and low-volume irrigation. "Previously, with flood irrigation, water would flow from one end of the field to the other, leaving the front waterlogged and the back dry," Tan Xuelian said, squatting by the ridge and clearing soil to reveal the black drip tape. "The core concept is 'determining density by water availability and yield by density.' Now, water and fertilizer are delivered directly to the root system, significantly reducing evaporation and leakage." The integrated water-fertilizer system operates in sync, applying amino acid soluble fertilizers and chelated trace elements with the drip water, resolving the mismatch between water and fertilizer supply and demand, and greatly improving utilization efficiency. From BeiDou-guided precision sowing to growth-stage chemical control for lodging prevention, integrated pest and disease management, and mechanical grain harvesting at maturity, the entire process is fully mechanized, eliminating labor-intensive tasks like manual harvesting, husking, and drying, substantially reducing production costs and harvest losses. Zheng Fuguo, Deputy General Manager of Gansu Yasheng Seed Industry Group, introduced that two mature technical models have been established: a mechanized, simplified, high-yield, stress-resistant cultivation model for irrigated corn and a large-area yield enhancement model for irrigated corn. Demonstration sites have been set up in three thousand-mu core areas and two ten-thousand-mu demonstration zones across Xin'gou Farm in Ganzhou District, Zhangye; Jingtai County; and Liangzhou District, strictly implementing unified standards for variety, density, water and fertilizer management, pest control, and mechanical operations to create standardized, replicable models. In 2025, expert field measurements recorded yields of 1,336.28 kg per mu at the Zhangye Xin'gou Farm thousand-mu demonstration area and 1,296.5 kg per mu at the Jingtai Tiaoshan Farm demonstration area, achieving a major breakthrough of "super-ton-grain" yields for a single irrigated corn season, with yield increases exceeding 16%. The technical model has now been applied to over 30,000 mu cumulatively, and the promoted variety Yudan 1851 has been planted across 255,000 mu cumulatively in the province.

At the "Research and Integrated Application of Technology for Improving Seed Corn Yield and Seed Vigor in Hexi" thousand-mu seed corn base in Tounao Village, Ganjun Town, Ganzhou District, Zhangye, another technological showcase is equally captivating. A drone slowly passes over the fields, uniformly spraying bio-organic selenium foliar fertilizer. "The Hexi Corridor is one of the country's core corn seed production bases, but it has historically faced limitations such as low planting density and restricted seed yields," explained Wang Shuying, a researcher at the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Dryland Agriculture Institute. The research team has been conducting long-term experiments on dense population construction, coordinated improvement of seed vigor, and selenium-enriched seed production techniques, choosing to spray organic selenium microbial fertilizer three times: during the big flare stage, early grain-filling stage, and mid grain-filling stage. "Multi-year experimental data show that corn seeds produced with foliar organic selenium fertilizer have a 37.1% to 96.1% increase in selenium content and a 3.3% to 18.4% yield increase. Selenium-enriched corn seeds show significantly enhanced resistance to low-temperature cold stress when encountering alternating stress in spring fields, resulting in uniform and robust seedling emergence," Wang Shuying said. The team has established two 200-mu core demonstration areas, one thousand-mu demonstration area, and one ten-thousand-mu demonstration zone, creating a technical model for dense planting and "super half-ton seed" yields in Hexi seed corn production. In 2025, multiple demonstration sites achieved yields exceeding 500 kg per mu, with some plots reaching 580 kg—an increase of over 20%—solidifying the region's industrial position as a national seed production base. Breakthroughs in seed corn extend beyond this. The demonstration area increased the planting density of the female parent by 1,000 plants per mu, raising seed yield by 60-100 kg per mu, achieving an average yield of over 600 kg per mu and hitting the "super half-ton seed" target.

Wheat and Corn on the Eastern Gansu Dry Highlands: A Leap in Per-Mu Yields

Crossing the rolling mountain ranges to the loess dry highlands of eastern Gansu, one enters the national dry-farming loess grain storehouse. "This year, the project capitalized on the warm-humid climate trend of the Loess Plateau, comprehensively promoting high-yield corn creation in Xifeng Xiaojin, Zhenyuan Shangxiao, Jingchuan Dangyuan, and Jingning Jieshipu, establishing thousand-mu and ten-thousand-mu demonstration areas," Fan Tinglu stated. The demonstration areas primarily promote dense-tolerant, high-yield varieties like Xianyu 1483, paired with integrated technologies including full-film double-furrow sowing and V-shaped furrow planting, water-adaptive density increase, BeiDou precision seeding, functional microbial fertilizers, and integrated green pest control. Corn planting density generally reaches 5,000 or even 6,000 plants per mu. Thanks to abundant rainfall this year, the dryland corn is growing exceptionally well, serving as the mainstay for consolidating the dry highland grain supply. In 2025, the Zhenyuan dryland corn challenge field achieved a measured yield of 1,143 kg per mu, and the hundred-mu plot yielded 1,020 kg per mu. The Lingtai hundred-mu wheat demonstration field reached 511.3 kg per mu, a 76.7% increase over conventional planting. Dryland corn yields breaking the ton-grain barrier and wheat yields exceeding half a ton per mu represent historic leaps. In Mabao Village, Tunziyuan, Zhenyuan County, Qingyang City, winter wheat has already been harvested. Unlike the irrigated areas of the Hexi Corridor, dryland wheat yield enhancement must contend with challenges such as drought, poor soil fertility, and delayed sowing dates following the previous corn harvest. The project has identified barren-tolerant, high-quality winter wheat varieties from the Longjian series. "Under conditions where the wheat sowing date was delayed by one month after last year's corn harvest, Longjian 116 achieved a yield of 420 kg per mu in Ning County, while the late-sown Longjian 119 with film-mulched hole sowing exceeded 350 kg per mu in Zhenyuan," Fan Tinglu noted. Behind these high yields lies the deep integration of superior varieties and improved cultivation methods. The project pairs key technologies such as wide-furrow sowing, degradable film soil-covering hole sowing for moisture conservation, and deep plowing with straw return to enhance soil fertility. This has culminated in an integrated technical model for wide-furrow sowing of dryland winter wheat on the Loess Plateau, which has been demonstrated and promoted over 40,000 mu, achieving an average yield increase of 16.7%. The model has spurred the promotion of winter wheat cultivation across 1.08 million mu, generating an additional grain production capacity of 49,000 tons, firmly supporting the eastern Gansu grain supply role. One technology, one model, one field of excellent farmland. "Through field experiments, demonstrations, and promotions, the project has screened out a batch of new varieties suitable for widespread application in cold and arid regions, developed a series of key technologies and new products, and built demonstration application scenarios on a significant scale, which plays a positive role in promoting stable and increased grain production and industrial development in cold and arid areas," the expert panel evaluated during the project assessment meeting. Chang Hong, the project's chief technical engineer and President of the provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, explained that since its launch, the project's five major research topics have coordinated efforts, targeting three key regions—the Hexi oasis irrigation district, the Yellow River irrigation district, and the loess dry highlands—and focusing on three staple crops: corn, potato, and wheat. The project has successfully bridged the gap from laboratory experiments to large-scale field application, distilling five landmark technological achievements: mulched rainwater harvesting and density increase for corn on loess dry highlands, super-ton-grain yields for irrigated corn, half-ton seed yields for Hexi seed corn, drought-resistant yield enhancement for dryland winter wheat, and quality and efficiency improvement for irrigated potatoes. The deep integration of superior varieties, improved methods, and better machinery, coupled with the close linkage between research institutions, enterprises, cooperatives, and planting entities, proves that research-production integration is not just a paper plan but a tangible code for increasing yields rooted in the fields of Longyuan. This demonstrates that "ton-grain fields" are not a distant dream in the province's cold and arid regions. To date, the project on large-area grain yield improvement and industrialization in cold and arid regions has screened 36 corn, wheat, and potato varieties, innovated 12 key green high-yield technologies, integrated over 8 technical models, and established 13 thousand-mu core areas and 7 ten-thousand-mu demonstration zones. The combined technologies have been applied over 1.18 million mu, yielding an additional grain output exceeding 69.4 million kilograms, with a total output value of 1.831 billion yuan, and cost-saving and efficiency-enhancing results continue to emerge. From the loess dry highlands to the Hexi Corridor, from trial fields to ten-thousand-mu demonstration zones, the province is using scientific and technological innovation to solidify the foundation of food security, enabling the vast cold and arid lands of Longyuan to produce more grain and writing a new chapter in significantly raising grain yields across large areas.

Reporter's Notes: The High-Yield Code of Cold and Arid Regions

Walking across the Longyuan region, from the vast oasis of the Hexi irrigation district to the ravined dry highlands of eastern Gansu, from standardized ten-thousand-mu demonstration zones to meticulously managed scientific trial fields, the most inspiring sight is the vibrant vitality that technology brings to the farmland. For a long time, low temperatures, drought, poor soil, and water scarcity have been natural constraints on the province's grain production, posing persistent challenges to farming on the Longyuan land. In many people's fixed impressions, cold and arid lands equate to low-yield lands, where barren fields can hardly yield abundant harvests. However, this deep dive into the fields during interviews has shown me the true power of technology. Storing grain in technology hinges on people. From variety screening and technology development in the laboratory to field trials, demonstrations, and promotion, every breakthrough in high-yield data, every mature cultivation model, and every leap in quality and efficiency embodies the dedication and effort of research teams. They have traversed the fields of Longyuan, enabling superior seed varieties to take root in cold and arid soils and adapting green agricultural technologies to production needs, truly achieving "local conditions, targeted measures." Research-production integration empowers the farmland. Unlike single scientific experiments, this grain yield enhancement initiative has broken down the barriers between research and industry. Research institutes contribute technology and varieties, leading enterprises build platforms and facilitate transformation, and cooperatives and farmers focus on cultivation and implementation. This multi-party linkage and coordinated effort rapidly converts laboratory research results into tangible harvest gains in the fields, transforming niche experiments into widely adopted high-yield models. Today, the cold and arid lands of Longyuan have long shed the passive dependence on weather. Data guides planting, technology safeguards growth, and superior varieties empower harvests. Each high-yield field, each demonstration plot, and each yield breakthrough fully proves that land constraints are never the ceiling for grain production—technological innovation is the boundless potential for increasing yields and income. Rooted in Longyuan, delving into cold and arid agriculture, and safeguarding food security, this sustained scientific and technological endeavor has not only unlocked the high-yield code for grain production in the province's cold and arid regions but also provides a replicable and referenceable Gansu solution for high-quality grain development in similar arid and semi-arid areas across Northwest China.