China ramps up farming technology support to ensure harvest

BEIJING -- China has stepped up technology support for winter wheat, soybean and corn farming to help stabilize crop yields and ensure supplies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Monday.

Technological services should be promoted to help farmers solve problems and popularize advanced technologies, said Zhang Taolin, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs.

Five provinces -- Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi -- will receive technical guidance from expert teams dispatched by the ministry, as floods swept these regions last autumn and brought pressure on crop harvests this year, the ministry noted.

Online training courses have been offered to more than 800,000 people via the National Agricultural Technology and Education Cloud Platform, according to the ministry.