Harbin Leverages Tech to Transform Black Soil Farming

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province—China’s largest grain-producing region with output ranking first nationally for 16 consecutive years—is accelerating its transition from traditional farming to smart, technology-driven agriculture. The city is deploying precision seeding equipment, agricultural drones, localized high-horsepower tractor transmissions, and advanced seed varieties to grow what officials call “new quality agricultural productivity.”

Precision Seeding and Smart Machinery

At the heart of this transformation is Heilongjiang Dewo Technology Development Co., Ltd., based in Harbin’s Shuangcheng District. The company produces precision seeders that monitor wind pressure, missed seeding, and reseeding in real time while simultaneously completing side-deep fertilization and precision planting, according to Xinhua News.

“The seed metering device is the heart of the seeder, one of the most core components,” said Du Mujun, chief engineer at Dewo Technology. The company’s laboratory conducts hundreds of seed metering experiments daily, analyzing data to continuously optimize seed metering devices, seeding discs, and other critical components.

Agricultural drones are also taking to the skies across Heilongjiang’s farmland. Heilongjiang Hui Da Technology Co., Ltd. produces agricultural drones and Beidou navigation auto-driving systems for agricultural machinery. The company’s latest V150 agricultural drone carries a 150-liter spray tank with a maximum payload of 180 kilograms, applicable to lifting, logistics, emergency rescue, and agricultural and forestry plant protection, said Chu Haibo, deputy general manager of Hui Da Technology.

Breaking Import Dependence in High-Horsepower Machinery

Localizing high-end agricultural machinery is a key pillar of Harbin’s strategy. CNH Industrial (Harbin) Machinery Co., Ltd., the largest agricultural machinery manufacturing base in Northeast China, has been operating in the city since 2014. In 2025, the company launched a project to localize full power shift and continuously variable transmission (CVT) technology for high-horsepower tractors—a move that breaks the long-standing reliance on European imports for 200-plus horsepower tractor transmissions, as Harbin Daily reported.

“Heilongjiang is the ballast stone for ensuring national food security, providing broad market space for agricultural machinery enterprises,” said Li Kang, president of CNH Industrial China and Mongolia. “The full power shift transmission localization project has completed small-batch validation and will soon enter mass production.”

The localization effort extends beyond transmissions. At an October 2025 Field Day event in Harbin, CNH Industrial showcased 14 core products, including the Steiger 5304—China’s largest full power shift tractor at 530 horsepower—and the new CR8.90 combine harvester, according to a company announcement. The company also launched its Agricultural Machinery Cloud smart ecosystem platform, designed to enable fleet management, farm operations, and equipment lifecycle monitoring through digital connectivity.

Seeds: The ‘Chip’ of Agriculture

Seed innovation is another critical front. Harbin Yinong Seed Industry Co., Ltd. produces high-yield, cold-resistant, lodging-resistant corn varieties. The company holds a 56% market share in early-maturing corn varieties across Heilongjiang’s 4th, 5th, and 6th accumulated temperature zones, according to Xinhua News.

Farmer Cui Changlong from Tongjiang City has grown the company’s Yinong Yu 14 variety for multiple years. “This variety is stable in yield, and more critically, it is lodging-resistant, which is the trait we value most, because once crops lodge after wind, mechanical harvesting becomes much more difficult and manual harvesting costs are high,” he said.

“We will strictly maintain seed production standards, using technology to help farmers increase production and income,” said Zhu Yong, deputy general manager of Yinong Seed Industry. The company’s promotion area in the northern early-maturing region exceeded 5 million mu in 2025, with over 15% growth expected in 2026, as CNR Heilongjiang reported.

Green Agriculture and Broader Impact

Harbin’s agricultural modernization extends to sustainability. The city maintains over 30 million mu of grain planting area with production capacity above 30 billion jin. Its green and organic food certification area exceeds 11.38 million mu, ranking first among sub-provincial cities nationwide, with product inspection pass rates consistently above 99.8%. The regional public brand value of Harbin Rice has remained above 100 billion yuan.

The 2025 Central Document No. 1 was the first to propose developing agricultural new quality productive forces according to local conditions, marking a significant policy shift toward technology-driven agricultural modernization. As China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period begins in 2026, Harbin is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation.

What’s Next

With full power shift transmission mass production targeted for the end of 2026 and CVT transmission mass production expected in the first half of 2027, Harbin’s agricultural technology ecosystem is poised for continued expansion. The convergence of precision machinery, drone technology, localized transmissions, and advanced seed varieties signals a broader shift in how China’s breadbasket region approaches food security in an era of climate uncertainty and rising demand.