Corps of agricultural mechanization, why lead the country?

In northern Xinjiang in July, the sun is warm and the farmland is green. Xu Senlin, head of Nongshengyuan Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative in Shihezi General Farm of the Eighth Division, took his members to maintain the agricultural machinery and prepare for the harvest season in a month.

"Over the decades, earth-shaking changes." Xu Senlin sighed with emotion, from his father's hand to kantuman's land reclamation, to now the cooperative has 38 cotton pickers and 4 tomato harvesters, and the locomotive gallops across the fields, playing a bumper harvest movement.

From kantuman to intelligent agricultural machinery, from "sweat driven" to "intelligent driven", now, the comprehensive mechanization rate of farming, planting and harvesting in XPCC is more than 95%, ranking the leading level in China and becoming the pride of XPCC people.

In October 1954, the XPCC was established, which opened the magnificent curtain of New China's reclamation and border defense. The members of the XPCC opened the glorious course of maintaining stability and guarding the border with a gun in one hand and building the border with a pick in the other.

"In the early days of land reclamation, the conditions were very difficult. Without livestock, people pulled the plow. A handful of Kantuman was the' standard' for every army reclamation soldier '." Xu Senlin's father told him that at that time, because of the lack of seeds, each person saved 100 grams of food rations every day. Some people were so hungry that they felt dizzy when working, so they helped Kantuman to stand for a while.

There is a lot of sand and gravel on the Gobi Desert. When Kantuman swung it down, he could only chisel a white spot. Many people's palms were cracked and blood flowed. It was not easy for people to pull the plow. Everyone gritted their teeth, used all their strength, and walked forward with their bodies bent. In half a day, they could only open a small piece of wasteland.

In the difficult environment at that time, Kantuman was the best tool for land reclamation. He could dig canals, build ridges, loosen soil, weed, serve as rice dishes, and burn hot pancakes. He was deeply loved by military reclamation soldiers.

In order to improve production efficiency, the Corps tried to introduce a number of tractors. In August 1955, Jin Maofang was assigned to the Machinery Farm of the Eighth Agricultural Division (now Shihezi General Farm) and became the first generation of female tractor drivers in the Corps.

"The tractor wants to' drink' good water. I always boil the water and add cold boiled water to it." Jin Maofang takes this tractor as a treasure. "I must do a good job in organizing such an expensive machine to me!" Jin Maofang said. She set a record for driving a tractor to sow 120 mu of land a day and complete 20 years of tasks in 7 years.

From wielding kantuman and pulling ploughs to driving tractors and combine harvesters, as the Corps continues to increase the introduction, research and development, and renewal of agricultural machinery and supporting agricultural machinery, the Gobi desert that has been sleeping through the ages has been awakened, and the military reclamation soldiers have vigorously built water conservancy., Sand control, alkali control, tree planting and afforestation, built an oasis with fields, canals, and forest belts, which have made great contributions to the development and growth.

In the magnificent development process of the Corps, agriculture has always been an important basic support, and agricultural mechanization has played an important role. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, XPCC has seized the opportunity of vigorously promoting the development of agricultural mechanization, deeply promoted the supply side structural reform of agricultural mechanization, increased the effective supply of agricultural machinery, and continuously improved the level of agricultural mechanization.

In 2021, Ma Yongqing, a farmer, replaced the imported cotton picker he bought with a domestic cotton picker. His orders in Wujiaqu City of the Sixth Division were in short supply.

"At that time, the imported cotton picker could not pack cotton, and the replacement of parts was troublesome and expensive." Ma Yongqing said that the cotton picker made by XPCC has a net harvest rate of over 94%, which is the same as that of imported cotton pickers. In 2023, many employees found Ma Yongqing and said bluntly: "I want domestic cotton pickers to harvest cotton."

Ma Yongqing is very proud to produce agricultural machinery with independent intellectual property rights, and the technical level of cotton pickers made by XPCC has been in the forefront of the world.

In recent years, XPCC has vigorously promoted the upgrading of agricultural machinery and equipment, accelerated the pace of intelligent manufacturing of high-end agricultural machinery, and the "family" of intelligent agricultural machinery has been expanding. Modern agricultural machinery such as high-end cotton pickers, planters applying satellite remote sensing technology, and plant protection drones have shown "scientific and technological style".

In China, to ask agricultural machinery "which is strong", the Corps must be able to occupy a place. To build a national agricultural mechanization extension base, the XPCC has formed a unique mechanized large-scale agricultural production system, and the level of agricultural mechanization is firmly in the forefront of the country. (Lan Lingling intern reporter Ji Xiaozhen)