China News Service, Henan: The launch ceremony of the Henan Grain King Competition was held, with a prize pool of up to 66,666 yuan.

   China News Service, Zhengzhou, March 11 —   (Gao Yuyan) On March 10, the launch ceremony for the “2016 Henan Grain King Competition” was held in Zhengzhou. According to reports, the event commenced with the sowing of summer corn in 2016 and proceeded through the stages of summer corn planting, field management, and autumn harvest. The organizing committee will convene experts to conduct surveys and yield estimations, theoretical yield assessments, and on-site verification. At year’s end, one Henan Grain King will be selected, receiving a prize of 66,666 yuan; three regional champions will each receive 9,999 yuan; and four runners-up and four third-place winners from each regional division will be awarded one ton of fertilizer.

　　Henan is China’s undisputed leading grain-producing province and has long been renowned for the saying, “When the Central Plains are bountiful, the whole nation is well fed.” Over the past five years, the province’s total grain output has consecutively surpassed two major milestones—110 billion jin and 120 billion jin. In 2015, Henan’s total grain production reached 121.342 billion jin, marking a historic twelfth consecutive year of growth. The 2016 Henan Grain King Competition focused on per-mu yield of summer corn, open to all summer corn growers across the province. Participation was organized through a combination of recommendations from county (city, district) agricultural bureaus and voluntary applications by farmers. Any farmer or entity with contiguous corn acreage of at least three mu and an estimated yield of 900 kilograms per mu was eligible to enter. Based on local ecological conditions and practical circumstances, the province was divided into four regional divisions: Eastern Henan, Western Henan, Southern Henan, and Northern Henan. Henan Television’s New Rural Channel, in collaboration with numerous media outlets, hosted the 2016 Henan Grain King Competition, aiming to showcase the province’s favorable environment of robust grain production, rising rural incomes, farmland protection, environmental improvement, and social harmony and stability.

　　The central grain-producing region is a vital base for grain production and commercial grain supply in China. Its spatial location and layout—straddling east and west and featuring contiguous, large-scale production—underscore its strategic importance in safeguarding national food security. The “2016 Henan Grain King Competition” was launched simultaneously across five provinces—Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Anhui, and Hubei—pitting them against one another to vie for leadership in building a premier grain-production base.

　　The “2016 Henan Grain King Competition” will undoubtedly serve as a catalyst for enhancing food security in our province, accelerating the development of modern agriculture, and advancing new‑rural construction. Committed to becoming a nationally influential brand event in the “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” sector, this competition is poised to stand as a banner of high grain yields and increased production across the province.

    Original article link: http://www.ha.chinanews.com/GNnews/1/2016/03/11/362763.shtml