Experienced farmer helps promote grain production as NPC deputy

HARBIN -- Despite the cold weather in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, some farmers are busy preparing for spring farming in a greenhouse base.

Among them is 58-year-old Sun Bin, head of a rice cooperative in Huanan county, Jiamusi city. He has been on a tight schedule ahead of his trip to Beijing for the annual session of the national legislature.

Sun has served as a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) since 2013 because of his rich experience and capabilities in cultivation.

Over the past decade, he has submitted 185 suggestions, covering areas such as black soil protection, agricultural machinery subsidies, seed industry development and grain storage.

Of the county's 192 administrative villages, Sun has visited over 120. "Issues relating to agriculture, rural areas, and the well-being of farmers have always been my focus," he said.

As China's breadbasket with rich black soil, Heilongjiang has topped the country's grain output chart for 13 consecutive years. However, how to deal with unwanted stalks left lying on the land used to be a headache for farmers.

On the one hand, open burning of stalks is banned for environmental protection, and on the other hand, farmers must seize the best time for spring farming, Sun explained.

In 2018, he suggested enhancing the comprehensive use of stalks, which included intensifying research on and development of agricultural equipment, and the offering of relevant subsidies.

This suggestion was given great importance by the central and local authorities, and the province has enhanced its support for making better use of stalks and improved related policies.

In recent years, Heilongjiang has actively pushed for turning stalks into fertilizer, fodder, raw materials, and fuel. The black earth, one of the most fertile in the world, is nourished and protected in this process.

His suggestions on the seed industry's innovative development and on the agricultural modernization of major grain production bases have also been adopted by authorities.

"It is the black soil that has raised me, and it is my fellow villagers who have chosen me. I have to live up to their trust and choice," Sun said.