Xi Focus-Closeup: Xi's letter inspires farmers to contribute to food security

HEFEI-- After a bumper wheat harvest, Xu Congxiang, a large-scale grain producer in Taihe county, East China's Anhui province, received a reply letter from President Xi Jinping.

In the letter, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said he is pleased to learn that Xu has reaped a bumper wheat harvest and that Xu's offspring have followed in his footsteps to work in agriculture.

Xi expressed the hope that large-scale grain producers can leverage the advantages in scale operations, actively apply modern agricultural technologies and encourage small household farmers to jointly contribute to national food security by expanding grain production and improving grain quality.

Recently, with the jubilation of another bumper harvest, the 69-year-old farmer wrote to Xi, telling him about his experience of growing grain and efforts to help villagers get rid of poverty in the past decade.

"The reply letter is quite inspiring and shows that he pays high attention to agricultural development, which strengthens my confidence in grain growing," said Xu.

The letters were not the first communication between Xi and the farmer. During his inspection of Xu's village in April 2011, Xi learned about local wheat planting from Xu and other villagers.

"He encouraged me to further research on agricultural skills to contribute more to national grain production," recalled Xu.

Xu has been dedicated to selecting high-quality varieties, exploring key technologies and promoting yield-increasing skills.

This year, he planted a total of 1,230 mu (82 hectares) of wheat. The wheat yield in his demonstration farmland exceeded 800 kg per mu, a new record for the grower.

According to Xu, whole-process mechanization has been realized on his farm after large equipment including tractors, precision seeders and fertilizer distributors were put into use in recent years.

China's grain output has exceeded 650 billion kg for seven consecutive years, achieving basic self-sufficiency in grain and absolute security in staple food. The country has secured another bumper harvest of wheat nationwide this year.