A harvest measurement on September 4th in Longquan Village, Fengcheng Town, Xuanhan County, Dazhou City, delivered remarkable results: an average yield of 1,231.7 kilograms per mu. This figure, which is 30.6 kilograms higher than last year's outcome, has once again set a new record for high-yield corn cultivation across a hundred-mu area in Sichuan Province, sparking smiles among the agricultural technicians and growers present at the site.
The expert panel organized by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs randomly selected three plots for the harvest test, mechanically harvesting a total area of 11.91 mu. After rigorous procedures including impurity removal and moisture correction, the final verified average yield reached 1,231.7 kilograms per mu, an impressive 128% higher than the average corn yield in the local area.
This impressive achievement is no accident. Fengcheng Town is recognized as the birthplace of the "Fengcheng Experience" for high-yield mountain corn cultivation in the southwestern region. Since the 1990s, expert teams led by the Crop Research Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences have been deeply rooted in this area, continuously conducting research on achieving high yields. In August 2024, a conference showcasing 30 years of achievements in Sichuan's corn high-yield research was held right here. So, what is the secret behind Fengcheng's consistently record-breaking corn yields? And how can the "Fengcheng Experience" be extended beyond these high mountains to benefit more farmlands across the province?
Located at the southern foot of the Daba Mountains, the high-yield experimental field in Longquan Village sits on a sunny slope at an altitude of approximately 1,100 meters. Liu Hairui, the stationmaster of the Xuanhan County Agricultural Technology Extension Station, explains that the local geography and climate offer several advantages for high corn yields, including a longer growth period, significant temperature differences between day and night, good ventilation and sunlight exposure, and a lower incidence of pests and diseases. This year, the corn in this plot was sown in late March and its entire growth cycle spanned as long as 190 days until harvest. Liu notes that a longer growth period allows for the accumulation of more dry matter, especially when compared to corn in flatlands and shallow hills, which typically has a growth period of only 130 to 140 days.
Converting these "high-yield genes" into actual production requires the meticulous cultivation efforts that experts have sustained for over three decades. The harvested plot used the "Chengdan 716" variety, planted at a density of 6,300 plants per mu. A distinctive feature of this experimental field, compared to typical cornfields, is the high planting density. According to the harvest report, the density reaches 6,300 plants per mu, which is about 2,000 plants more than what local farmers are accustomed to. Yang Qin, a researcher from the Crop Research Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences who has participated in Fengcheng's corn high-yield research for 23 years, summarizes the key to high yields into three main aspects.
The first is rational dense planting. Yang explains that yield per mu is determined by both individual plant yield and the number of plants, making increasing plant count the most direct way to boost production. However, dense planting has its limits; the relationship between plant number and yield follows a parabolic curve, and overcrowding can lead to pests, diseases, lodging, and poor ventilation and light penetration. After years of experimentation, the density in the test field has been stabilized at over 6,000 plants per mu, with the precise number finely tuned based on the characteristics of each variety.
The second key is technological improvement. Over these years, expert groups from provincial, municipal, and county levels have provided long-term, on-site guidance, developing high-yield practices such as using film mulching to increase temperature, ridged cultivation, formula fertilization, and comprehensive pest and disease control. Recently, this technical system has been continuously upgraded. This year, for instance, new measures like cultivating strong seedlings, integrated water and fertilizer management, a "one-spray, multiple-promotion" approach, and timely mechanized harvesting were integrated into the process.
The adoption of wide-narrow row planting is another notable innovation. This year, the experimental field was newly equipped with integrated water and fertilizer systems, and the planting pattern was changed from uniform row spacing last year to wide-narrow rows. These two improvements work in tandem, allowing a single irrigation pipe to water two rows of corn, which lowers infrastructure costs, improves ventilation and light conditions, and reduces the occurrence of pests and diseases.
The water and fertilizer integration system proved particularly critical in July. Su Zhonghua, a local grower, recalls that during a period of sustained high temperatures and no rain, which coincided with the crucial tasseling, silking, and pollination stage for corn, the system played a vital role. He notes that it not only stabilized the yield but also saved labor for topdressing. Factoring in the increased yield, the system has reduced costs and increased efficiency by more than 615 yuan per mu this year for farmers.
The third key is variety selection. Yang Qin admits that over the past 30 years, the research team has trialed at least 200 different corn varieties. In the early days, they selected "Denghai 605," a northern variety with strong density tolerance, which achieved high yields but showed slightly inferior disease resistance when grown in Fengcheng. The team then shifted towards locally bred varieties like "Chengdan 716" and "Chengdan 372," which successfully balanced high yield with robust disease resistance. In Yang's view, the continuous and close county-institute cooperation between the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Xuanhan County can be considered the "hidden code" behind the repeated yield breakthroughs, as it ensures that cutting-edge technologies can be rapidly tested, matured, and implemented in the field.
The ultimate goal of this long-term research is to promote the high-yield technology from Longquan Village and transform "expert yields" into "farmers' field yields." In recent years, expert teams from the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences have been actively replicating the "Fengcheng Experience" in various locations such as Nanjiang, Jianyang, Zitong, Xuyong, and Junlian, covering diverse natural conditions including high-altitude mountainous areas, flatlands, and shallow hills.
The results are becoming evident. Last year, in Xiaotian Village, Guanguan Town, Nanjiang County, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, a hundred-mu research plot planted with "Chengdan 716" at an average density of 4,200 plants per mu achieved an impressive average yield of 1,019.85 kilograms per mu during acceptance checks. This feat made Nanjiang County the fourth county in Sichuan, after Xuanhan, Yanyuan, and Danba, to produce a corn "ton-grain field." This year, that hundred-mu research plot has been upgraded to a thousand-mu demonstration area, with harvest measurements showing an average yield exceeding 800 kilograms per mu, 60% higher than the local average.
Back in Xuanhan County, a project aims to bring the "Fengcheng Experience" down from the mountains. For two consecutive years, test fields have been established in flatlands and hilly areas at altitudes of around 300 to 400 meters. Last year, a thousand-mu demonstration plot in Xinya Village, Tiansheng Town, representing flatland and shallow hill conditions, achieved a yield of 909.5 kilograms per mu. This year, a thousand-mu demonstration plot in Shagou Village, Wubao Town, representing the eastern mountainous area conditions, once again surpassed 900 kilograms per mu.
Liu Chunqin, the chief agronomist at the Xuanhan County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, believes that a shift in mindset is the primary step toward significantly increasing per-unit-area yield. She points out a common misconception among many farmers who equate large corn cobs with high yields, leading them to be reluctant to adopt dense planting. This, she argues, actually hinders overall yield. As long as the total output increases, a slightly smaller cob size is perfectly acceptable. To this end, Xuanhan County has already initiated the construction of high-yield corn demonstration fields across all 37 townships and subdistricts. A campaign involving thousands of agricultural technicians working on-site has also been launched to provide nearby demonstrations and guidance, accelerating the adoption of new varieties, technologies, and models by farmers.
"The core of our promotional strategy for the 'Fengcheng Experience' is to adapt it to local conditions," says Liu Hairui. The next steps, he explains, involve precisely matching suitable corn varieties and planting densities according to specific altitude, climate, and soil conditions, integrating regional high-yield management technologies, and simultaneously promoting water-fertilizer integration management. The project will also aim to improve the level of mechanization in cultivation, management, and harvesting, as well as agricultural social services, to accelerate the transformation and application of scientific research results. He emphasizes that high yield is not the end goal; the ultimate objective remains helping farmers increase their incomes.