China's Henan Province strives to drive breakthroughs in key agricultural machinery technologies

Central China's Henan Province is one of the country's major grain production areas, producing a quarter of the national wheat output. But its contribution is more than just grains and food. The province is now striving to drive breakthroughs in key agricultural machinery technologies and revitalize its agricultural machinery manufacturing industry.

China's grain output hit a record high of 706.5 million tonnes in 2024, up 1.6 percent from 2023. This marks the first time that the country registered a grain harvest of over 700 million tonnes. Previously, the country's annual grain output had been above 650 million tonnes for nine consecutive years. And achieving the milestone is all thanks to modern agricultural innovation, improved technologies, quality, and sustainability.

At YTO Group, a leading Chinese agricultural machinery and construction machinery manufacturer based in Luoyang City, a 200-horsepower large tractor can be rolled off the assembly lines every 150 seconds, and 200 large tractors can be produced in a day. Such productivity is due to the intelligent production system.

Zhao Yirong, head of the technology center and general manager assistant of the First Tractor Company Limited under YTO Group, has been working for over 30 years in the company and has witnessed the smart development of agricultural machinery and the localization process of core technologies. He gave an example to show the company's relentless effort to localize a core part for power shift tractors.

"Our research and development team conducted 1.5 million wear tests, 5,000 gear shift tests, 10,000 commutation tests and 750 hours of field tests before fully localizing a clutch drum," he said.

YTO Group has established seven national-level sci-tech innovation platforms, with more than 1,400 technical team members. It has successively developed China's new-type tractors, breaking foreign monopolies, and has obtained nearly 2,100 invention patents, utility model patents, and software copyrights.

Its sales network spans more than 100 countries and regions worldwide.

Diesel engines are core components independently developed and produced by YTO Group. YTO diesel engines are not only self-supporting, but also can be supplied to more than 300 other agricultural machinery companies in Luoyang and even across the country.

"The annual production capacity of diesel engines is 300,000 units. Internal supply accounts for about 50 percent, and external supply takes up nearly 50 percent," said Wang Xiangyang, vice general manager of YTO Group's diesel engine company.

On Dec 30, 2024, a China-Europe freight train loaded with 40 containers of YTO tractors and spare parts was heading to Kazakhstan. Currently, YTO Group makes three China-Europe freight train trips every week on average.

"In 2024, our [export] growth in Africa reached more than 50 percent," said Shan Chunyu, vice general manager of YTO Group's international economic and trading company.

Luoyang produced China's first crawler tractor in 1958. Now it's home to over 500 enterprises producing agricultural machinery equipment and related components, with the industry's total output value exceeding 30 billion yuan, or about 4 billion U.S. dollars. The city has an annual production capacity of 200,000 tractors and 50,000 harvesters.

China's Henan Province strives to drive breakthroughs in key agricultural machinery technologies

Wine companies in Italy are anxious as U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 20-percent tariff on the European Union.

Giulia D'Alema, head of a family-owned wine business in Italy's Umbria region, is facing significant uncertainty for the upcoming wine sales season following the announcement of tariffs on EU products, including wine.

Her family's 7.5-hectare vineyard has completed its major annual tasks — trimming, tying, and weeding — to ensure healthy grape growth and a fruitful harvest.

However, despite these preparations, D'Alema is troubled by the looming threat of new tariffs on Italian wines exported to the United States.

The United States is a key market for Italian wines, with exports valued at approximately 2 billion euros in 2024 alone.

Yet, the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump has put this vital export market at risk.

"If tariffs are imposed, U.S. importers won't be able to import my wine because selling my rose will no longer be profitable for them. I've already increased production specifically for this (U.S.) market, so now I have to find other ways to absorb this surplus," said D'Alema.

In the wine-producing region of Umbria in central Italy, it is the small and medium-sized wineries that are hit the hardest. Large enterprises can mitigate risks by adjusting their market strategies, but small family-owned businesses often rely on a single market. The imposition of tariffs creates a great deal of uncertainty for their operations.

In 2024, Italy's bottled wine exports to the United States reached 1.94 billion euros. According to calculations by the largest agricultural association in Italy, the Italian Confederation of Farmers (CIA), if tariffs prevent Italian wines from being exported to the United States, Italian wineries could face daily losses of 6 million U.S. dollars.

Trump's 20 pct tariffs on EU raise concerns for Italian wine export