China's central province of Hunan reported a record grain harvest last year, with total output reaching 31 million tons, the provincial governor said on Tuesday.

Governor Mao Weiming announced the figure while delivering the province's annual government work report in Changsha, its capital city, during the ongoing provincial top legislative session, which commenced on Tuesday.

Mao said the province maintained more than 4.73 million hectares of grain-sown land during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, with rice and oil-tea camellia production ranking first nationwide. Looking ahead to the next five-year plan starting in 2026, he said Hunan aims to keep its grain planting area at around 4.77 million hectares while strengthening food security and agricultural technology.

The province will also focus on achieving breakthroughs in key agricultural technologies and bolstering the momentum of rural industrial development, he added.

Duan Zhao, head of a professional rice planting cooperative in Yiyang, Hunan, and a deputy to the provincial congress, said that the profitability of his cooperative's rice farm has significantly improved with the aid of machinery and technology.

By implementing new cultivation techniques, such as simplified rice farming and integrated pest management, the cooperative has successfully reduced planting costs and increased local farmers' incomes.

The cooperative now operates a fleet of over 70 machines, Duan said, enabling one-click operations for transplanting rice seedlings, precise fertilization and pesticide management, and an automated drying process.

"The combined effect of machinery and technology has reduced the planting cost per mu (0.067 hectares) of rice by 100 to 150 yuan," he said.