As China marks its ninth Farmers' Harvest Festival, the nation celebrates another season of plenty. However, persistent challenges like low comparative returns from grain farming and the gap between increased output and stagnating farmer income remain pressing. Our investigation across Sichuan's fields seeks to answer a key question: How can food security be safeguarded while ensuring farmers' incomes rise and industrial upgrades truly benefit those who till the land?

This autumn, the fields of Sichuan are painted in gold. Dense, heavy rice paddies stretch across the Chengdu Plain, seed production bases in the central hills reap good harvests, and specialty farming bases in the Daba Mountains are thriving. But stable grain output does not automatically translate into fuller wallets for farmers. For an agricultural powerhouse like Sichuan, the "granary of abundance" presents a challenge that extends well beyond mere yield numbers.

Amid the roar of combine harvesters, a long-standing dilemma for grain producers is being reconsidered: how can the weight of harvested rice truly be converted into real, tangible income for farming households? In response, Sichuan has prioritized the modernization of its agriculture and rural areas, explicitly proposing to transform farming into a modern, large-scale industry. The province has also initiated a plan to double farmers' incomes, ensuring they fully share in the benefits of modernization.

As one of China's 13 key grain-producing provinces, Sichuan treats national food security as a crucial political mission. The dual challenge is maintaining this security baseline while solving the income puzzle for its farmers. To understand how these goals can be met from the field to the bank account, our reporters conducted field research in Chengdu, Deyang, Suining, and Bazhong.

Protecting farmland and boosting revenue

People rely on grain for sustenance, but grain relies on land for growth. Cultivated land is the lifeline of food production. The stability of Sichuan's high grain output is underpinned by a steady expansion of planted acreage. In 2025, the province's grain planting area reached 96.185 million mu, maintaining a level above 96 million mu for four consecutive years. In recent years, Sichuan has aggressively tackled abandoned farmland to expand its sowing area, rectifying 2.176 million mu of contract farmland by the end of 2022 and effectively curbing the issue.

Policy support has not only continued but intensified. In January of this year, Sichuan issued guidelines for the positive optimization of permanent basic farmland protection red lines. These guidelines strictly adhere to principles of maintaining quantity, ensuring quality, optimizing layout, and improving ecology. They refine the delineation of reserve areas, clarify adjustment procedures, and specify departmental responsibilities, moving policy requirements from paper to the fields.

The village history museum in Yongfeng Village, Taihe Town, Dongpo District, Meishan, chronicles local efforts since 1978 to transform the Huangchao Dam through standard farmland construction and land consolidation. It also records the village's achievement in 2012 of being first in Sichuan to achieve full mechanization of rice cultivation, and its steadfast decision in 2016 to prioritize stable land for grain despite a booming citrus market. For decades, the village has adhered to the principle of growing grain on quality farmland. This commitment has paid off, with the 1,000-mu high-yield rice demonstration area achieving a record-breaking yield of 820.8 kilograms per mu in 2025.

Maintaining the farmland red line and securing grain production is fundamental, but overcoming the issue of unprofitable grain farming requires innovation in planting models. A typical example is the grain-cash crop rotation model explored in Pidu District, Chengdu. On a rainy day during our visit to Donglin Village, Deyuan Street, Li Hong, a major local grower, hurried through the drizzle. "I'm busy preparing to sow garlic seeds," he said with confidence. "I'm keeping the planting area at about 60 mu this year. Of the last three years, 2024 was the best, earning me over 400,000 yuan. I'm working to maintain that success!" Most of Li Hong's fields are in the district's Rice-Vegetable Modern Agriculture Park, where the 10,000-mu rice paddies were recently harvested and are being readied for garlic. Chen Guo, who heads the local garlic cooperative, explains the model's logic: "The rice season fulfills our grain production duty, and the garlic season enhances economic returns. It's a one-field, two-harvest approach that keeps the grain baseline secure while solving the old problem of low profitability." The park plants roughly 7,000 mu of garlic seed, accounting for 70% of the district's total, with produce mainly sold to Yunnan and Guizhou, yielding an annual output value of about 200 million yuan. "Net profit from garlic seed can reach 10,000 yuan per mu, and the park's farmers' disposable income is about 20% higher than the district average," Chen added.

From Yongfeng Village's commitment to growing grain on good land to Donglin Village's innovative pursuit of dual benefits, these grassroots practices build Sichuan's solid foundation for stable and increasing grain output. In 2025, the province's grain output surpassed the 73 billion jin mark for the first time. The per-mu yields of rice, wheat, and corn increased by 11 kilograms, 15 kilograms, and 28 kilograms, respectively. Rapeseed output rose by 1.29 billion jin, maintaining its position as the national leader in production for the 16th consecutive year.

Reducing costs, enhancing efficiency, and promoting shared prosperity

Ultimately, the central goal of agricultural and rural work is increasing farmers' income. Sichuan's provincial party committee has identified this as the core task, launching an initiative to double farmers' income over the next 10 to 15 years, aiming to lift the average disposable income of rural residents to double its 2025 levels. There are various methods to achieve this, from developing deep processing of agricultural products and integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, to promoting full employment of the rural labor force. But getting to the specifics on the ground, one wonders why some land fails to generate profit and why some is even abandoned.

Ding Hongsheng, the party secretary of Changyu Village in Lueping Town, Luojiang District, Deyang, attributes many of these issues to mindset. "Changing perspectives is the priority. In 2020, I organized over 70 village meetings to explain the benefits of a dual-season rice and rapeseed seed production model and relevant policies. Actions speak louder than words. That year, I led the development of nearly 200 mu to show the villagers the returns, and they gradually joined in." Drawing on years of experience, Ding explains that improving mechanization significantly reduces labor costs. Many family farms and moderately scaled smallholders are boosting yields through superior seed selection and refined techniques, and standardizing processing and purchasing also contributes to lower costs and higher efficiency. Today, Changyu Village earns 3,500 yuan per mu from seed production, increasing per capita income for farmers by 1,500 yuan, drawing over 2,000 people into the sector, and successfully creating a national-level seed production base.

Across Sichuan, more and more farmers are diversifying their household operations for comprehensive income generation. "Land abandonment? That's not a concern here," said Kuang Shili, head of the Shaobing Family Farm in Lucheng Village, Sanjia Town, Anju District, Suining, pointing to his constantly ringing phone. "A bank just visited to offer low-interest loans for scaling up production, and farmers are calling to ask about it." He elaborates on his model's success: "First, our green rice fetches a price 8 to 12 yuan higher per 100 jin than ordinary rice under contract. Second, the crayfish we raise in the paddy fields, harvested early and sold over a long season, bring in a healthy income.” The farm has also spurred the creation of over 20 other family farms in nearby villages. The per capita disposable income of farmers in the core area of the Anju District grain and oil agricultural park is about 14% higher than the district's average.

Sichuan is also building a modern agricultural technology support system, focusing on innovation, promotion of results, and invigorating the seed industry, while developing smart agriculture. The core base of the Wanke Innovation Demonstration Park in Gaoshan Village, Wanchun Town, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, primarily develops rice and rapeseed. Xu Jinghong, director of the Crop Research Institute of the Chengdu Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, notes, "We have 40 new rice materials that passed provincial technical appraisal, and 139 new varieties approved at the national and provincial levels." The base's 'Rong 18A' is the largest-promoted disease-resistant rice germplasm in the southwest rice region, with 49 supporting varieties developed and promoted over 17 million mu. By shifting mindsets, scaling operations, and integrating industries, many regions are working towards the goal of doubling farmers' income, adding seed industry revitalization and technology to broaden income channels.

Extending the industrial chain to share the dividends

The strong performance in production has opened up new space for income growth. However, to achieve a qualitative leap in agricultural efficiency, the value chain must be extended downstream to unlock hidden potential. Jiang Gang, director of the provincial agricultural office and head of the department, states, "Sichuan is dedicated to promoting strong industry clusters and linking agriculture with secondary and tertiary sectors ('connecting 1-2-3' in the industrial chain). We are accelerating the development of 100-billion-yuan level industries for vegetables, fruits, and tea, and creating a series of leading specialty products of national scale."

In the deep reaches of the Daba Mountains, Tongjiang County in Bazhong City is leveraging its national geographic indication product, Duanmu white fungus, to upgrade the industry from simple planting to a full chain. Wang Kailin, deputy director of the county's white fungus industry center, explains the transformation: "We've built 120,000 square meters of standardized processing plants and cultivated over 150 new business entities. We've developed 30-plus products across seven series, including fungus soup, freeze-dried fungus, face masks, and wine, positioning us in the food, cosmetics, and health products sectors. What was once sold by the pound as dried fungus is now a high-value consumer good, with added value multiplied several times over." This upgrade has significant benefits for individual growers too, as confirmed by Xie Shoubin, head of the Yun'er Manor Family Farm. "This year, I grew 10,500 Duanmu fungus logs, each yielding almost 350 grams of fresh fungus. With an input cost of about 250,000 yuan, I'm projecting an annual output value of around 600,000 yuan," he said.

Bazhong is full of similar examples of specialties becoming major industries. As the chain stretches from production to consumption, agricultural upgrades accelerate. Pu Lang, deputy director of the Bazhong Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, outlines their strategy: "We are optimizing the structure of agricultural products by category and grade. For instance, around Nanjiang yellow goat and Bashan beef cattle, we've built a product matrix of 'mass necessities, specialty quality, and niche supplements.' Relying on Yunding tea and Tongjiang fungus, we are developing 'convenience, gift box, and beauty' series. And based on traditional medicines like honeysuckle and Chuanminshen, we are developing health products, while pushing deep integration with cultural tourism and study tours."

Kuang Shili also points to the benefits of processing as a way to return profits to farmers. "We used to sell paddy by the pound; now we sell branded rice by the bag. The 'Sanjia Rice', processed through over ten steps like de-husking and color sorting, sells for 4 yuan per jin, doubling the value of raw grain. The processing profits stay in the village," he explains. To ensure quality, farmers use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, employing a green "rice-crayfish symbiosis" model. Each mu in the park's core area now yields about 1,400 jin of rice (from both main and ratoon crops) and about 300 jin of crayfish annually. To push these specialty industries towards trillion-yuan scale, building strong chains is essential. Two interwoven strands are forming across Sichuan: a physical industrial chain rooted in production, linking specialty products from field to market, and an intangible brand chain, with public brands like "Tianfu Granary" and "Tianfu Vegetable Oil" leading clusters in grain, oil, pigs, pickles, and lemons. The results are clear: Sichuan has built 24 national modern agricultural industrial parks, the most in the country, and in 2025, the revenue of agricultural product processing enterprises above a designated size exceeded 830 billion yuan, providing solid support for the industry.

Leveraging brands to expand the market

If a complete industrial chain is the skeleton, a strong brand is the industry's business card. Sichuan is relentlessly pushing its "Chuan" brand products from selling raw materials to selling brands. Recently, 102 specialty agricultural products from Sichuan were included in the first batch of the 2026 national list of famous, special, premium, and new agricultural products. As of June, the province has a total of 714 products on the list, ranking third nationally. Sichuan will continue its "Tianfu Granary" brand promotion, using it as a core provincial public brand to propel more local produce to domestic and international markets. This creates a linked development pattern with provincial, regional, and business-level brands coordinating their efforts.

In Tongjiang County, the "Tongjiang Fungus" brand is valued at over 9.6 billion yuan, ranking among the top nationwide in the edible and medicinal fungus sector. The Qingyu pig, a national geographic indication product and rare local breed, has also grown from a niche mountain breed into a "golden brand" for the local countryside. Zhang Yuxian, chairman of Bashan Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., explains that the brand's premium comes from both product and channel strength. "On the product side, Qingyu pork is tender and flavorful, with a clear differentiation for the mid-to-high-end fresh market and gifts. On the channel side, we've placed it in branded supermarkets, high-end restaurants, and membership-based e-commerce, which gives us a stronger market position." The company has spurred participation from over 12,000 farmer households in breeding, feed supply, and logistics. "With our standardized entrusted breeding model, a farmer can earn a stable additional income of about 450 yuan per pig. They can also work at breeding and processing facilities or earn dividends from land transfers. Households in the full chain see an average annual income increase of up to 16,000 yuan," Zhang added.

Behind these famous brands are countless operators on their own journey to establish a brand. Yang Yanxia, head of the Yumin Family Farm in Pidu District, knows the hard work involved. She introduced new colorful wheat varieties in early 2024 from Northwest A&F University. To test zero-additive, high-quality noodles, she once drove over four hours carrying 300 jin of colorful wheat flour to a factory in Jiange County, Guangyuan, for trial processing. Compared to the roughly 1,000-yuan-per-mu value of common wheat, her colorful wheat yields over 1,400 yuan per mu, and the noodles it produces are superior in both nutrition and taste. She has now secured a stable processing partnership in Chengdu, focusing on product quality and building her own brand.

In 2023, the provincial department officially launched the "Tianfu Granary" public brand. Since then, Sichuan has focused on promoting the "Sichuan specialties" story, aiming to upgrade its products to be more refined and of higher quality. The province established an agricultural brand catalog, managing 430 selected outstanding brands dynamically, and has cultivated 200 "Tianfu Granary" premium brands. An action plan for brand quality upgrade has also been introduced, deploying measures for standardized production, better brand matrix, and institutional support. This systematically builds a complete framework for cultivating, developing, and protecting "Chuan" brand agricultural products. From safeguarding farmland red lines to innovating planting models, from cost reduction to brand building, Sichuan is using its abundant grain as a foundation and the goal of farmer prosperity as its core principle, painting a picture of a secure granary and a better life across its fields, and offering a model for agricultural transformation in western China.