CHENGDU — Hundreds of millions of Chinese farmers celebrated the fifth harvest festival on Sept 23, as the country expects a bumper harvest despite COVID-19 and extreme weather.

After overcoming the impact of last year's rare autumn floods in the north, late sowing of winter wheat, the sporadic resurgences of COVID-19 cases, and severe heat and drought in some southern regions, China has seen output increases in summer grain and early rice and is expecting another bumper harvest this year.

At an agri-expo park in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, one of the venues of this year's harvest festival celebration, residents from Xinjin district attended several farming-themed activities on the morning of Sept 23, such as product exhibitions, ceremonies to award "best-performing farmers," and fitness competitions.

"Thanks to technological advances, I have reaped bumper tangerine harvests and witnessed an increase of annual income these years," said Tan Jing, a participant who owns a tangerine planting area of over 2,000 mu (about 133.33 hectares) in Jinlong village of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Initiated in 2018, the Chinese farmers' harvest festival coincides with the autumnal equinox each year, which is one of the 24 solar terms of the Chinese lunar calendar and usually falls between Sept 22 and 24 during the country's agricultural harvest season.

China's total grain output consists of three parts — early rice, summer grain, and autumn production. Autumn grain production makes up about 75 percent of the annual grain output. The country aims to achieve a grain output of more than 650 billion kg this year.