Area reduced but output increased! Secret of Xinjiang cotton’s harvest

Edited by Zhong Mengxia

According to the national cotton output data released by the National Bureau of Statistics recently, the total cotton output in 2022 was 5.977 million tons, an increase of 246,000 tons or 4.3% over 2021.Among them, Xinjiang's cotton output is 5.391 million tons, an increase of 262,000 tons or 5.1% over 2021, accounting for 90.2% of the national total.In 2022, the sown area of cotton in China was 45.004 million mu, a decrease of 418,000 mu or 0.9% compared with 2021.Among them, the sown area of cotton in Xinjiang is 37.454 million mu, 139,000 mu less than that in 2021,accounting for 83.2% of the national cotton planting area.

Although the sown area of cotton in Xinjiang in 2022 was slightly reduced compared with that in 2021, the yield was finally increased with the increase of unit yield level, and the yield reached a record high.In addition, according to the data of China Fiber Quality Monitoring Center, the six indexes of cotton public inspection quality of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps are higher than the national level in the same period.What are the reasons of stunning cotton quality and output in Xinjiang in 2022?

Popularize advanced technology

Talking about the harvest of cotton in Xinjiang in the past year, Su Xuhong, deputy secretary general of Xinjiang Cotton Association said:"In 2022, the overall weather in Xinjiang was super sunny, with sufficient heat, suitable precipitation.Although the cotton planting area was slightly reduced, the yield per unit area was further improved." All along, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee and government have attached great importance to the development of cotton industry.Su Xuhong introduced that Xinjiang cotton has always been on the road of high-quality development, whether it is the main variety, planting layout or cotton planting technology.

In terms of cotton planting layout, in recent two years, cotton production in Xinjiang has continued to concentrate in advantageous producing areas, and the cotton output in 25 major producing counties accounts for more than 90% of the total cotton output in Xinjiang.In 2022, Xinjiang will optimize the regional distribution of cotton, further subdivide the cotton planting areas and suitable planting areas according to the climate and market conditions, and form a regional distribution of long-staple cotton and fine-staple cotton.

In terms of variety optimization, at present, the number of main cotton varieties in Xinjiang is controlled within 40, and the problem of numerous and chaotic varieties has been effectively improved."We hope to choose high-quality cotton varieties with strong regional adaptability as the main varieties, implement centralized production of one region and one variety, and improve the consistency of cotton fibers.For example, long-staple cotton can be planted in traditional superior producing area of long-staple cotton.Planting highquality cotton varieties in Shawan County and other places with good natural conditions.It is suggested to develop organic cotton in areas with poor natural resources.At the same time, according to the downstream production needs,we will vigorously promote order planting, accurately serve cotton spinning demand enterprises to develop special cotton, and build cotton production bases for different purposes." Su Xuhong said.

In terms of cotton planting technology, the advanced and applicable cotton planting technology in Xinjiang is constantly being popularized, with the green control and disposal rate of pests reaching over 96%, the popularization area of "dry sowing" technology being 18.72 million mu, and the mechanized cotton recovery rate being greatly improved."Dry sowing" technology can be directly sown without spring irrigation, which not only saves a lot of water,but also effectively improves the emergence rate of cotton.This year, the technology of "dry sowing" was widely applied in cotton planting.

To further improve the quality of Xinjiang cotton, meet the needs of textile enterprises’ production, Su Xuhong introduced that in 2022, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government formulated the Notice on Quality Control of Cotton Harvest Period, and continued to do a good job in implementing quality control measures in key links such as spraying cotton defoliant, standard operation of cotton picker and management, improving cotton quality from the source, and revising the Pilot Implementation Plan of Cotton Target Price Subsidy and Quality Linking in Autonomous Region.328 enterprises in 18 cotton-planting counties(cities) continued to promote the linking of price subsidies with quality, summed up the experience of pilot operation,optimized supporting measures, highlighted the accurate guidance of quality data, and promoted the implementation of the policy of "superior cotton with superior price, superior quality and superior supplement".

Improve cotton quality

"Although Xinjiang has a unique location advantage,and the unit yield level is constantly improving, we should also see that compared with India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and other countries, the cost advantage of China's cotton industry needs to be improved, which forces the producing areas to speed up high-quality development, continuously improve cotton quality, and resolve various risks with' target price+scale effect+quality advantage'."Cao Huiqing, president of Cotton Farmer branch of China Cotton Association said.

Cao Huiqing believes that to realize the healthy development of Xinjiang's cotton industry, firstly, we must change our ideas, and pay more attention to all subjects in the industrial chain.In the past, under the target price, cotton farmers pursued yield, and cotton ginning factories charged according to the processing quantity, so lots of farmers has little enthusiasm for improving cotton quality.Nowadays,the quality requirements of cotton have been obviously improved, but there is still room to truly realize the high-quality cotton.

"Besides, the whole cotton industry chain in Xinjiang needs to be further improved." Su Xuhong said that in recent years, with the deepening of cotton target price reform in Xinjiang, the development of cotton industry has been improved.However, the current market driving mechanism of cotton industry in Xinjiang needs to be improved, and the level of industrial development needs to be further improved.

At the same time, the continuous increase of cotton planting cost in recent two years has also affected the enthusiasm of cotton farmers.According to the survey data, in 2022, the cost of land transfer and materialization of cotton in Xinjiang increased by 600 yuan/mu, and the cost of cotton production exceeded 3,000 yuan/mu."Cotton farmers are affected by planting costs and cotton prices, and their intention to plant cotton in 2023 is still wandering and waiting to see." Cao Huiqing expressed the hope that the subsidy price of cotton in 2022 and the new round of target price policy of cotton in Xinjiang in 2023 will be implemented as soon as possible, which will give cotton farmers reassurance, clarify the planting intention and the direction of preparation for cultivation, and stabilize the cotton planting area in Xinjiang.Expand the scope of retroactive pilot of cotton quality subsidy,lower the participation threshold, and let more farmers enjoy the benefits of "high quality and high price", thus driving and improving the cotton quality in Xinjiang.

Improve the industrial chain

"In the future, the development of cotton industry will still be based on the characteristic advantages of Xinjiang's cotton resources, continuously consolidate the strategic position of major cotton producing areas in Xinjiang, and promote the high-quality development of cotton industry.It is necessary to further unify policies, planning, supervision and market, and jointly enlarge the cotton industry in Xinjiang." Combined with the actual situation of cotton industry in Xinjiang, Su Xuhong put forward suggestions from many aspects.2022/2023 is the last year of this round of cotton target price policy implementation.Su Xuhong suggested to continue to promote the implementation of this policy, actively explore new interest protection modes by implementing major stability and minor adjustments, and gradually establish a perfect cotton production income protection and green development subsidy system.

In recent years, the cost of cotton planting in Xinjiang has been increasing continuously, and the target price of cotton in Xinjiang is 18,600 yuan/ton, which has been implemented for seven years.Su Xuhong suggested that when formulating a new round of cotton target price reform policy, we should fully consider the objective situation of cotton planting cost growth, and appropriately raise the target price level according to the principle of "cotton planting cost+reasonable income" to ensure that cotton farmers can obtain stable cotton planting income.There are 22 ginning factories operated by the subsidiaries of Shuifa Agriculture Group.To promote the high-quality development of cotton industry in Xinjiang, Liu Daoying, general manager of Shuifa Group, suggested that we should increase the cotton science and technology innovation system, integrate cotton resources, set up the cotton science and technology innovation system in Xinjiang under the guidance of the market,strengthen the construction of cotton innovation laboratories and experimental bases, speed up the construction of big data platform, introduce information management methods into the planting, purchasing, processing and sales data of cotton production, collect the data into a unified database, and form a production big data processing platform and management platform to realize the whole process quality control in the cotton industry chain.At the same time, we should formulate our own cotton industry standards and earnestly safeguard the cotton brand in China.On this basis, we will improve the cotton industry chain, cooperate closely with the upstream and downstream of the industry chain, and devote ourselves to building the development model of the whole cotton industry chain.Liu Daoying believes that it is necessary to build a financial service system of the whole agricultural industry chain, which integrates land consolidation, financial mutual assistance, rural areas, technical support, warehousing and logistics, break the traditional layout between industrial chain plates, and make the whole cotton industry chain circulate to adapt to the current development situation.

"Xinjiang cotton has a very good price advantage and quality advantage.In the future, it is necessary to accelerate the integration of cotton prices,quality and standards with the international market." Liu Daoying said.