Wondrous Xinjiang: Machines drive cotton harvest in Xinjiang

URUMQI, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- When the cotton harvest season started in October, the vast cotton fields in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw humming cotton-picking machines instead of farmers.

Thanks to the machines, Yan Zhimin, a cotton farmer in Puhui Township, Korla City, can complete cotton picking in just days.

"The cotton-picking machine is highly efficient. With it, my 40-hectare cotton fields will be harvested in four days," said Yan. "In previous years, it took dozens of people more than a month to finish."

Yan said automated machines such as cotton pickers and drone sprayers operate in most cotton production in Xinjiang, elevating farming efficiency and saving production costs. "This year, my cotton yield will probably reach about 6,000 kg per hectare, generating an income of about 15,000 yuan (about 2,090 U.S. dollars) per hectare."

The cotton-growing area in Puhui reached 20,000 hectares this year. More than 60 cotton pickers have been applied for this year's harvest season starting in early October, bringing the township's mechanization rate of cotton picking to over 99 percent.

In the city of Shawan, nearly 114,190 hectares of cotton fields have also ushered in the harvest period. More than 10 years ago, local cotton farmers began to develop intensive cotton farming. Currently, the city's mechanization rate of cotton picking exceeds 99 percent.

Other than in previous years, local cooperatives installed a cotton quality traceability system on the cotton pickers this year.

"We installed four chips on the packing bag. During cotton picking, the machine will alarm automatically if the moisture of the harvested cotton exceeds the standard or if machine drivers violated operation regulations," said Han Bo, chairman of Shawan Hongji agricultural machinery service cooperative.

"From cotton harvest to sales, the traceability system can provide scientific data for cotton processing enterprises and play an important role in improving cotton quality," said Han.

Xinjiang is the largest cotton-producing region in China due to its unique light and heat conditions. In recent years, the local government has been vigorously developing intensive cotton farming and promoting the use of cotton harvesting machines.

The mechanization rate of cotton planting and harvesting in Xinjiang has now reached 94 percent.

In 2022, Xinjiang's cotton planting area is about 2.47 million hectares, with a cotton output of 5.39 million tonnes, accounting for more than 90 percent of China's total cotton output. This year, Xinjiang's total cotton output would likely stabilize at more than 5 million tonnes.