Corn and soybeans grow in the compound plantation. [Photo/Baotou news network]

Tractors harvest corn and soybeans [Photo/Baotou news network]

Baotou is home to the largest soybean and corn belt compound plantation armong prefecture-level cities and has built demonstration and promotion area of 370,000 mu (24,667 hectares) in five banners, counties and districts this year.

In the past five years, the demonstration and promotion area of soybean and corn belt compound planting technology in Baotou has grown from an initial 300 mu to the current 370,000 mu, contributing to the national strategy of stabilizing corn production and increasing soybean production.

According to Gao Zhenjiang, director of Baotou's Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Science and Technology, through five years of experiments, the city has created local characteristic soybean and corn belt compound planting technology.

In the Yellow River Basin, a drip irrigation, water and fertilizer integrated planting model has been formed. In the Houshan area, the city has experimented with a dry farming area planting model, serving as an example for the use of the model throughout North China.

In addition, in July this year Baotou introduced 108 soybean harvesters to further automate compound planting. Zhang Jinsuo, director of the Hinggan League Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Technology Extension Center, said after a field visit that Baotou has truly realized the deep integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy.