LHASA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The grain output of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region hit a record high of about 1.09 million tonnes in 2023, according to the regional agriculture and rural affairs department.

In 2023, the grain sown areas in the region reached about 2.92 million mu (about 195,000 hectares), among which the planting area of highland barley, a long-established grain in Xizang, achieved about 2.23 million mu, bringing 843,600 tonnes of output.

Xizang has continued its efforts to protect farmland last year, by building 674,000 mu of high-standard farmland, and restoring 23,900 mu of abandoned land.

The integrated mechanization rate for major crop cultivation and harvest also surpassed 71 percent in 2023 in this region.

Xizang will intensify efforts to promote improved varieties of winter highland barley and winter wheat, and strengthen technical guidance and field management to prepare for the grain harvest in 2024, said Zhang Haibo, head of the regional agriculture and rural affairs department.