In a vast, freshly harvested wheat field spanning over 1,000 mu at the Mingyu Planting Family Farm in Huimeng Town, Mengjin District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, a new type of air-suction precision corn seeder is rapidly moving back and forth. This machine features automated driving and automated loading of seeds and fertilizer. Behind it, it leaves straight rows of six precisely spaced seeding furrows, uniform in depth and seed distribution. Its cost-effectiveness in large-scale planting is significantly superior to traditional mechanical seeders.
Farm operator Qing Ruifeng introduced that compared to traditional disc seeders, the air-suction precision corn seeder represents a generational upgrade in sowing technology. Relying on the principle of precise negative-pressure seed suction, the equipment completely addresses the traditional pain points of uneven seed spacing and inconsistent sowing depth. It greatly improves seeding uniformity and operational efficiency. Simultaneously, it achieves one seed per hole with a high rate of correct plant spacing and low rates of missed or double sowing, virtually eliminating the need for thinning and saving 8%–10% on seeds. The corn seedling survival rate has jumped from around 80% to over 95%.
Currently, during the critical "golden period" and key window for summer sowing of autumn grains, Mengjin District is closely focusing on the grain yield per unit area improvement initiative. It is vigorously promoting the demonstration and application of intelligent agricultural machinery. Through equipment renewal, technological upgrades, and optimization of farming models, the district aims to comprehensively enhance the quality and progress of summer corn sowing, laying a solid foundation for stable and increased production of autumn grains.
The key promoted air-suction precision corn seeder can efficiently cover up to 300 mu per day. A 1,300-mu field can be completed in just four days, increasing operational efficiency by more than three times compared to traditional models. This significantly saves farming time costs and reduces labor input.
It is reported that to substantially enhance mechanized sowing levels, Mengjin District has newly introduced 10 Beidou navigation-equipped air-suction precision seeders this year, concentrating them into summer sowing production. This aims to lead the upgrade of the district's entire summer sowing work with intelligent equipment.
Previously, the overall corn summer sowing cycle for the entire district took about half a month, with tight schedules and heavy tasks. Farmers generally needed to work day and night to rush the planting, making it difficult to guarantee sowing uniformity and quality. With the full-scale deployment of new intelligent agricultural machinery, the duration of summer sowing across the district will be significantly shortened this year. This allows grain growers to effectively seize the optimal sowing period, minimize the impact of flood season weather to the greatest extent, and firmly grasp the initiative in autumn grain production.
Lu Hang, Director of the Mengjin District Agricultural Technology Extension Center, stated that compared to traditional machinery, the air-suction precision seeder equipped with the Beidou navigation system offers precise positioning, straight-line travel, standardized row and plant spacing, and enables quantitative, uniform sowing with consistent depth. It stably meets the standard of "one plant per hole, uniform seeding," eliminating issues like double sowing, missed sowing, and overcrowded seedlings from the source, ensuring uniform and consistent corn emergence.
A strong seedling foundation not only greatly reduces later inputs for thinning and final plant stand management, lowering field management difficulty, but also perfectly adapts to high-yield corn cultivation techniques like dense planting with drip irrigation. This solidifies a crucial foundation for stable yield increase, quality improvement, and income growth in the later stages of corn production.
It is understood that Mengjin District will continue to advance the iterative upgrading of agricultural machinery equipment. Building on the existing fleet, plans are in place to introduce more new, high-efficiency air-suction and air-blast seeders next year, continuously expanding the inventory of intelligent agricultural machinery and broadening the coverage of precision sowing operations.
Concurrently, the district will continue to leverage the demonstration and leading role of family farms and large-scale growers, promoting standardized, intelligent, and dense planting models for corn from point to area. The goal is to comprehensively enhance comprehensive grain production capacity, continuously solidify the foundation for regional food security, and drive high-quality development of agricultural production across the district.
Intelligent, new high-efficiency air-blast seeders have become the main force in this year's corn sowing campaign.