The 2014 'Several Opinions on Comprehensively Deepening Rural Reform and Accelerating Agricultural Modernization' (No. 1 Central Document) highlighted the development of weak links in agricultural machinery. Rice transplanters, cotton pickers, and sugarcane harvesters may be promoted in the future through two approaches: establishing demonstration zones and increasing subsidies.

According to informed sources, in practice, the Ministry of Agriculture is expected to address the weak links in agricultural machinery through demonstration zones and increased subsidies. Demonstration zones can help farmers understand and accept these products by demonstrating their usage and effects. For weak product segments, support can also be increased through central or local government funding.

It is understood that currently most of the domestic market for cotton pickers and rice transplanters is controlled by foreign-funded main engine manufacturers engaged in agricultural machinery, while the area using mechanical sugarcane harvesting in China is still very small.

In terms of rice transplanters, domestic enterprises that have overcome technical bottlenecks will occupy the domestic market for walk-behind rice transplanters, while foreign-funded enterprises will increasingly focus on high-speed rice transplanters. Rice transplanters produced by domestic enterprises are all equipped with gasoline engines, while foreign-funded enterprises have begun to introduce rice transplanters equipped with diesel engines. Because gasoline is more volatile than diesel and not easy to store for a long time, and the state does not allow individuals to store gasoline, rice transplanters powered by diesel engines have been welcomed by farmers as soon as they were launched and quickly captured the market. For domestic high-speed rice transplanter manufacturers that have just broken through technical bottlenecks and are equipped with gasoline engines, this presents another hurdle. So far, there is no domestic diesel engine manufacturer specifically supporting high-speed rice transplanters.

In terms of cotton pickers, the domestic enterprise with relatively large output is Guihang Agricultural Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. The listed company Xinyan Co., Ltd. also has related cotton picker products, but previously, executives of Xinyan Co., Ltd. told Dazhihui News Agency that cotton pickers and self-developed chili harvesters are currently being treated as technical reserves. 'We need R&D teams and sales teams, and based on downstream market demand, we will wait for the right time to launch them on the market. There is no news yet about cotton pickers being launched.'

In terms of sugarcane harvesters, Ma Shiqing, former director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, revealed that currently only very few provinces and cities in China use mechanical sugarcane harvesting, because sugarcane is mostly grown in hilly and hot areas in non-scale production, which is not suitable for mechanized operations. During sugarcane harvesting, pickers have to work in high temperatures and extreme heat, and wearing sleeveless clothing often causes physical cuts to the pickers, indicating clear market demand. However, the harvesting technology for tall stalks such as sugarcane is very different from that for low-stalk varieties such as rice and wheat.

The No. 1 Central Document proposes to accelerate the development of modern seed industry and agricultural mechanization, accelerate the full mechanization of field crop production, focus on weak links such as rice transplanters, machine-picked cotton, and mechanical sugarcane harvesting, and achieve integrated matching of crop varieties, cultivation techniques, and mechanical equipment. Actively develop socialized services such as agricultural machinery operations, maintenance, and leasing, and support the development of service organizations such as agricultural machinery cooperatives.

The impact of this year's No. 1 Central Document on agricultural machinery continues, but there is no particularly major favorable policy. The development of related agricultural machinery still depends on the implementation of rural land reform in various regions.