East China's Shandong province plans to raise its grain production mechanization rate to 90 percent during the 12th Five Year Plan period (2011-2015), said Shandong Agriculture Machinery and Technical Advice Station on Oct 14.

In the next five years, Shandong will focus on grain crops like wheat, corn and rice.

The province will also promote new techniques to local farmers, such deep placement of fertilizer and the better irrigation.

The statistics released by the local agriculture authorities shows that, during the last five years, the mechanization rate of the province's grain production achieved a historical breakthrough. The corn production in 2010 saw a tractor plowing rate of 97 percent, a mechanical sowing rate of 95 percent and a mechanical harvesting rate of 71.5 percent.

By Wang Qian (China Daily Shandong Bureau)

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Tania Lee