Farmers are harvesting early rice with the help of harvesters in Shenjiao village, Gulin town, Haishu district, Ningbo. [Photo provided to Chinadaily.com.cn]

Despite the scorching summer heat, famers in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province are currently busy harvesting early rice and sowing late rice.

Early rice is usually planted between February and April and harvested in June and July, after a 90-to-120-day maturation period.

According to staff at the Ningbo Municipal Agricultural Technology Promotion Station, this year's early rice in Ningbo saw a larger planting area, earlier-than-usual harvest date and higher-than-average yield.

The planting area for this year's early rice in the city was 16,800 hectares, a year-on-year increase of 23.3 percent, and the total output is expected to reach 113,000 metric tons, a year-on-year increase of 30.4 percent.

Farmers at the Shenjiao Modern Ecological Agriculture Comprehensive Area in Gulin town, Haishu district are harvesting early rice with the help of farming machines. Digital agriculture technology and farming mechanization have brought greatly increased convenience and efficiency.

A demonstration project integrating various digital agriculture technologies has been launched in the area. Advanced technologies, including the Beidou Navigation Satellite System and a precision service system for intelligent agriculture field crop production, is being applied to make better use of agricultural resources and increase crop yield while lowering costs and protecting the environment.