On March 7, Lou Yangsheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress and Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, said in Beijing that Henan, using 6% of the country's arable land, produces 10% of the nation's grain and transfers out more than 60 billion jin of unprocessed grain and its processed products each year, making important contributions to safeguarding national food security.

　　On the same day, the Henan delegation to the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress held an open group meeting. Facing Chinese and foreign journalists, Lou Yangsheng shared the story of how Henan, the "granary of the Central Plains," plays its "trump card" in grain production.

　　Lou Yangsheng cited the "rainstorm during harvest" disaster in Henan from late May to early June 2023 as an example. He explained that this was the most widespread and longest-lasting rainy weather process in Henan during the same period since 1961, and the rainfall period coincided almost exactly with the grain-filling and ripening stage of wheat. "During those days we were extremely anxious, watching grain that was about to be harvested and stored face sprouting and deterioration."

　　To respond to the "rainstorm during harvest," Lou Yangsheng said, the entire province treated the summer harvest as its central task and formulated a meticulous "battle plan": implementing 10 emergency measures for grain harvesting and drying, making every effort to secure food rations, seeds, and people's incomes, and concentrating agricultural machinery for round-the-clock emergency harvesting, with the highest daily harvest progress reaching a record 15.43 million mu. At the same time, it scientifically carried out an action to increase autumn grain output and secure a bumper harvest, achieving "compensating for the summer with the autumn."

　　Lou Yangsheng recalled that at the time, township governments, schools, and other places in Henan that could be used to dry wheat were all opened to farmers; drying equipment worked through the night and around the clock; and as long as it was grain farmers wanted to sell, regardless of grade, it was all purchased, absolutely ensuring that no farming household faced difficulty selling grain.

　　Public data show that Henan's total grain output in 2023 was 132.486 billion jin, exceeding 130 billion jin for seven consecutive years.