Guo Jinkao, a deputy to the National People's Congress, is a renowned wheat breeding expert. Over the past year in office, he has gone deep into the fields to promote new varieties and teach farmers scientific farming methods, making unremitting efforts to safeguard food security.

During this period, the wheat in Xinji City, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, has begun to turn green and grow again. Guo Jinkao took his research team into the farmland to measure soil moisture and observe the wheat's growth. Seeing Guo Jinkao, many local villagers came over on their own initiative to greet him and ask questions.

With mud on his boots, taking root at the grassroots level for research, and listening to farmers' voices—these are Guo Jinkao's most important insights from performing his duties.

Hebei is a major grain-producing province, and developing water-saving agriculture is an important way to effectively boost grain production in Hebei. Guo Jinkao has led his team to breed more than 30 high-yield, water-saving elite wheat varieties.

At the 2023 Two Sessions, Guo Jinkao put forward relevant suggestions on the promotion of improved varieties and subsidies. During his year in office, Guo Jinkao traveled to every prefecture-level city in Hebei's main wheat-producing areas, and also went to Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and other places to promote new wheat varieties.

However, to effectively increase yields, having only "improved varieties" is not enough. Guo Jinkao's research found that on the same plot of land, different varieties and different field management methods can cause per-mu yield differences of more than 10%, and there is still great potential for increasing per-unit grain yield. This year, he suggests innovating the agricultural technology extension model, so that more people can learn "scientific farming" and "technology-based farming," and let new varieties, new technologies, new equipment, and new farmers join forces.