A farmer uses a crop-protection drone to apply fertilizer to rice in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province, on August 24, 2026. Photo: VCG

China is deploying more intelligent harvesters, crop-protection drones, and new-energy tractors during the coming autumn harvest and sowing season, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

China made significant progress in agricultural mechanization during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 

Since entering the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), the country has continued to upgrade high-end intelligent machinery, significantly improving the efficiency of autumn farming operations. 

Grain combine harvesters with a feeding capacity of 18 kilograms per second and crop-protection drones with an 85-kilogram payload are seeing accelerated deployment, said the Xinhua report. 

Machinery suited to hilly and mountainous terrains is being deployed more widely, providing suitable equipment for sloping and terraced fields. Tractors designed for slopes of 6 to 15 degrees are being promoted in regions including Gansu, Chongqing and Sichuan, while mountain-adapted corn seeders have entered production use in larger swaths in Southwest and Northwest China, according to Xinhua. 

The report noted that new-energy agricultural machinery is advancing rapidly, supporting greener production, lower costs and greater efficiency. Hybrid tractors rated at 200-300 horsepower and fully electric tractors rated at 25-75 horsepower have entered production. Hybrid rice harvesters and hybrid six-row cotton pickers with baling capabilities are expected to complete design finalization and enter mass production soon.

The developments build on broader agricultural modernization gains. China's overall mechanization rate for crop plowing, sowing and harvesting reached 76.7 percent in 2025, and its agricultural drone fleet exceeded 300,000 units, ministry officials said at a press conference in January.

Policy support is reinforcing the rollout. The ministry's 2026 agricultural support policy list prioritizes subsidies for high-performance seeders, intelligent rice transplanters, advanced combine harvesters and machinery urgently needed in hilly and mountainous areas. It also supports professional agricultural services for smallholder farmers.

China is also advancing digital farming. The national smart agriculture action plan for 2024-28 targets an agricultural production informatization rate above 30 percent at the end of 2026, and above 32 percent at the end of 2028.

Global Times