Corn kernels are harvested directly and save 100 yuan per mu.

Original title: experts recommend corn grain direct harvest technology--

From "harvest" to "harvest", the average cost per mu is 100 yuan.

* * the seeds of the 71 regiment of the Construction Corps were harvested directly at the scene.

Grain harvesting site of Linying County Experimental Base in Luohe City, Henan Province, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

The cost of corn grain direct harvest is about 100 yuan lower than that of manual harvest per mu, and 50 yuan lower than that of mechanical ear picking, and it can avoid the loss and mildew problems of manual and mechanical ear picking harvest in the process of pulling, drying and threshing, and improve the quality of corn products. Corn grain harvest can also realize straw crushing and returning to the field at the same time, and reduce the environmental pollution caused by straw burning.

Corn harvest is an important part of corn production, and the amount of labor required accounts for about 55% of the total labor input in corn planting. At present, there are basically three ways of corn harvest in China: first, artificial harvest ear after drying and then threshing; second, mechanical harvest ear drying, threshing; third, mechanical direct harvest of grains. Corn grain mechanical harvest is to use a combine harvester to complete corn ear picking, ear peeling, threshing, cleaning, straw crushing and other operations, which is the last kilometer of the whole mechanization of corn production.

Since the new century, the mode of agricultural production in China is undergoing rapid changes, agriculture is gradually realizing intensive production, and the area of mechanical harvest will occupy a dominant position. Among them, the development from "harvest" to "harvest" is considered to be another major change in maize production technology after "single-grain sowing".

According to Li Shaokun, a post expert in the national corn industrial technology system and a researcher at the Institute of crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the cost of corn grain direct harvest is about 100 yuan lower than that of manual harvest per mu and 50 yuan lower than that of mechanical ear picking, and can avoid the loss and mildew problems of manual and mechanical ear picking harvest in the process of pulling, drying and threshing, and improve the quality of corn products. Corn grain harvest can also realize straw crushing and returning to the field at the same time, and reduce the environmental pollution caused by straw burning. Therefore, popularizing the operation of corn grain harvesting machine has become one of the effective ways for farmers to save cost and increase efficiency and improve the competitiveness of corn market.

Grain harvesting technology has been widely used in Europe and the United States and other developed countries in the 1970s, but its popularization and application in China is still in its infancy. Since 2010, Li Shaokun's research team has successively carried out the experiment and demonstration of corn grain mechanical harvesting technology in more than 60 sites in major corn producing areas across the country. In the process of experiment and demonstration, various problems were encountered: late ripening stage, poor grain maturity, late lodging, varieties not suitable for grain harvest, no suitable harvesting equipment, low harvest quality, no drying, storage conditions, no relevant evaluation criteria, and so on. In view of various problems, the research team continues to supplement and improve the experimental research program, formulate unified variety evaluation indicators and harvest grain quality evaluation standards, and help cooperatives and large families in the demonstration area to purchase and deploy harvesting machines. at the same time, various forms of field observation meetings and technical training meetings were organized to actively publicize the concept of modern corn production and corn grain mechanical harvesting technology to ensure the smooth progress of demonstration and promotion.

At present, the main factor restricting the popularization of corn direct harvest technology in China is that the quality of mechanical harvesting needs to be improved. Generally speaking, the indexes to evaluate maize grain harvest quality include: grain fragmentation rate, impurity rate, field seed drop rate, ear drop rate and so on, which are closely related to the characteristics of maize varieties. Li Shaokun's research team obtained thousands of sets of experimental data in the field and concluded that varieties suitable for grain harvest should have the following basic characteristics:

1. The growth period is short and the grain water content is low at maturity. At present, the water content of the main varieties in the market is higher than that of the best grain harvest during the normal harvest period (about 25%). During the harvest process, the grain fragmentation rate is high, and the commodity quality decreases, resulting in economic losses. Especially in Huang-Huai-Hai summer corn area, because wheat and corn are cropped twice a year, the growing period of corn is limited, so the varieties suitable for grain mechanical harvest are more demanding.

two。 The ability of lodging resistance was strong in the later stage. Under the condition of mechanized harvest, lodging corn will cause direct yield loss, but in the past, based on artificial harvest, the maize breeding industry in China paid attention to the plant lodging resistance in the early stage, but not to the lodging resistance in the later stage. The lodging resistance of maize varieties after maturity is generally weak, which can not meet the requirements of mechanized harvesting.

3. It is more suitable for close planting. Close planting to increase production has been recognized by everyone. However, with the increase of planting density, the labor time, intensity and cost of manual harvest will be greatly increased, and the application of mechanized grain harvesting technology will eliminate the obstacles of close planting varieties in production operation.

How to popularize the new technology of direct harvest of corn grain? Li Shaokun said: the research team integrated the whole mechanized production mode of corn dense planting, single grain on demand, mechanical topdressing, grain direct harvest, straw returning, and full cost accounting, which was selected as the main push technology of corn by the Ministry of Agriculture, which provided a strong guarantee for the popularization and application of corn grain harvesting technology throughout the country. In the autumn of 2015, the research team organized 32 corn grain harvest field observation meetings in 13 major corn producing provinces (cities and districts), including Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and *. The promotion and application of this technology has been widely recognized by the society.

Of course, the grain harvest of corn is by no means a simple change in the characteristics of varieties, but also requires the adjustment, change, coordination and support of all aspects of the whole industrial chain and supporting industries, as well as industrial policies and administrative measures. such as grain harvesting machinery, straw treatment machinery, supporting industrial capacity, grain collection and storage processes and policies and so on. (written by Li Yaling, our reporter / photo)