Farmers are busy harvesting grain in the fields of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Inner Mongolia News Network]

The grain output of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region reached a new high in 2023, maxing out at 39.58 billion kg to mark an increase of 575 million kg from the previous year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Dec 11.

Its total output ranks sixth in the country, marking the 20th straight year of a bumper harvest for grain production.

The grain planting area in the region spans 104.77million mu (6.98 million hectares), up 494,000 mu from 2022. The average yield of grain crops this year is 377.75 kg per mu, 3.7 kg more than last year.

Some 2.45 million mu of high-quality farmland has been newly built in the region this year, making a cumulative total of 52.34 million mu and a grain production capacity of about 25 billion kg.

The total area in which highly efficient irrigation is used, mainly in the form of drip irrigation, has now exceeded 33.5 million mu.

The protective cultivation, utilization, and crop rotation of black soil have led to a steady improvement in the fertility of arable land in the region.