Planting begins with arrival of springtime weather

As temperatures in most parts of China quickly rise, spring agricultural activities are kicking off in many regions.

Villagers in Xierong village in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, attended a ceremony on Monday to celebrate the beginning of this year's farming work－plowing fields and sowing seeds.

Konchok Tsering, deputy Party chief of the village, told China News Service in a video that 125 villagers, 60 tractors, nine subsoilers and other machinery were present at the ceremony.

The video shows some villagers wearing holiday costumes using decorated machinery to plow the land while others gathered in celebration, singing and dancing with joy.

"This is our traditional ceremony to start this year's agricultural work and wish for a good year of harvests," Konchok said, adding that they are preparing the land for growing highland barley, the major food crop in Tibet.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, farming activities such as spring plowing, planting and fertilizing crops are being carried out gradually from south to north.

This year's grain output is expected to be stable above 650 million metric tons, it said.

For Hubei province, the ministry has organized several provinces and cities－including Shanghai, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong and Hunan－to help supply pesticides, Farmers' Daily reported.

Hubei, the province hit hardest by the novel coronavirus epidemic, is short of insecticides for this spring's agricultural production.

Since earlier this month, Hebei province has sent more than 200 tons of pesticides to Hubei, according to the bureau of agriculture and rural affairs of Hebei. More than 90 percent of its pesticide manufacturers have resumed production to guarantee agricultural supplies.

Other supplies, including seeds and fertilizers, have also been provided to Hubei to support its agricultural production.

Huizhou, Guangdong province, is currently entering the peak time for sowing and planting rice seedlings, influenced by this year's warm spring, Nanfang Daily reported.

Huang Chungui, a farmer in Xin'gang village, Huizhou, will plant rice on more than 2.7 hectares of land this year.

"The land can yield more than 20,000 kilograms of rice around July," Nanfang Daily quoted Huang as saying.