Farmers, with the help of volunteers organized by the town government, dry wheat at the government courtyard in Wangmiao town of Pingyuan county, Shandong province. [Photo by Zhang Wei/For chinadaily.com.cn]

As wheat harvest comes into full swing in Shandong province, facilities including yards, squares and government courtyards in several cities of the province are open to the public to provide more grounds for drying wheat.

"Harvesters are collecting wheat at a faster speed and producing grains in a short time, so we need more safe and spacious ground to dry the grains," said Liu Hongzhang, who was drying grains at the government courtyard of Wangmiao town of Pingyuan county, Dezhou city.

The government staffers are advised not to drive cars to their work to make room for wheat drying, he added.

Ningyang county of Tai'an city has coordinated enterprises and cooperatives to provide their spacious outdoor sites for farmers to dry wheat.

The Jinfeng agricultural cooperative in Dongzhuang town of the county provides the villagers with 5,000 square meters of cement road which was used for wheat drying.

The Lanshan district of Linyi city coordinated a total of 20,000 square meters of ground from facilities including warehouses and idle factories for wheat drying, as well as helping to prevent the wheat from getting moldy because of the humid weather.

To solve the problems of drying and storing wheat, Shandong has been promoting the use of drying facilities and equipment. This year, 65 new drying centers were built in the province, which will help dry wheat during the harvest, according to the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Farmers dry wheat at a cooperative in Dongzhuang town of Ningyang county, Shandong province. [Photo by Feng Jing/For chinadaily.com.cn]