Photo shows paddy fields in Cengong county, southwest China's Guizhou Province.
Rows of green paddies stretch toward the horizon in Cengong county, southwest China's Guizhou Province, where farmers are entering a critical stage of rice seed production.
Drones buzz overhead, spraying pesticides across the fields in what has become a familiar scene during this busy season.
Cengong is the only national-level rice seed production county in Guizhou. In Mozhai village, Siyang town, farmer Yao Tao checks the growth of seedlings and keeps a close watch for pests and diseases.
Yao, a major local producer, has contracted 200 mu (13.33 hectares) of land for seed cultivation. Last year his fields yielded 175 kilograms per mu for a total output of 19,000 kilograms, and he expects an even better harvest this year.
