Hubei cotton development welcomes new opportunities. This year, 2,000 acres of machine-picked cotton will be piloted

On April 27, the Yangtze Cotton HighQuality Development Forum and IndustrySituation Analysis Conference was held in Han Held at the meeting, the participating experts discussed topics such as “Exploring new paths for the development of cotton industry in the Yangtze River Basin under the new pattern” and provided suggestions for new opportunities for Hubei cotton development.

Three major factors restricting cotton production in the mainland

In 2022, Xinjiang’s cotton output ranked first in the country, with 5.391 million tons, accounting for 90% of the country’s cotton output, followed by Shandong and Hebei, located in the Yellow River Basin, with outputs of 145,000 tons and 139,000 tons respectively, each accounting for 90% of the country’s cotton output. The national proportion is about 2%. Hubei Province, located in the Yangtze River Basin, produces 103,000 tons of cotton, ranking fourth in the country.

“The country has been advocating a moderate resumption of cotton production in the mainland in recent years to improve the over-concentration of cotton to Xinjiang.” Yan Li, secretary-general of the Hubei Provincial Cotton Association, said that my country’s cotton planting is mainly distributed in the two major river basins of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. As for Xinjiang production areas, in the past few years, under the guidance of policies, China’s main cotton production areas have evolved from the “three pillars” of the Yangtze River Basin, the Yellow River Basin, and Xinjiang to the “one dominant one” in Xinjiang. Although some incentive policies have been adopted in recent years, cotton production in the mainland has not improved.

What are the main factors restricting the development of the cotton industry in the Yangtze River Basin?

“Small planting scale and low efficiency have caused obstacles to the application and promotion of new technologies.” Villa, deputy director of the Economic Crop Research Institute of the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, believes that “cotton prices fluctuate greatly and cotton farmers’ income is unstable; the planting scale is small , the labor force required to pick cotton is high, and the lack of confidence in mechanical picking are the three main factors restricting the development of cotton planting in Hubei. “It is easy to reduce the planting area, but it is very difficult to increase it. Because it is more difficult to cultivate a large cotton farmer.” Villa said that cotton planting has the highest technical content among all field crops, and cotton picking machinery is also the most complex agricultural machinery.

“The average labor input per mu must be reduced.” Liu Shuang, general manager of Hubei Yinfeng Cotton Co., Ltd., said that the shortage of labor caused by the hollowing out of rural areas has forced fundamental changes in production methods. Currently, there are no supporting processing plants for machine-picked cotton in Hubei, which has restricted the advancement of pilot projects for machine-picked cotton.

In addition, imperfect supporting subsidy policies are also one of the constraints. “Since 2014, the cotton planting area in Hubei has dropped off a cliff.” Liu Shuang said that since 2014, the country has canceled the temporary purchase and storage policy for cotton and changed it to direct subsidies to Xinjiang, which has a greater impact on the Hubei cotton area.

Zhao Jinshan, director of the Zhengzhou Office of the National Cotton Trading Market, said that in recent years, the country has paid more and more attention to cotton cultivation in the mainland and gradually introduced new policies. If subsidies for cotton cultivation are in place, the area will rebound.

“Big Cotton Merchant” pilots 2,000 acres of machine-picked cotton

Despite the difficulties, many companies are still trying to expand cotton planting in Hubei.

“Due to the widespread use of mulch film, the Xinjiang cotton ‘three silk’ problem (referring to the colored fiber, hair and down mixed in cotton) is difficult to control in the short term and affects product quality.” Shenzhen Cotton Times Technology Co., Ltd. Ji Hua, vice president and vice president of research and development of Wenjian Medical Products Co., Ltd., said that in view of the fact that nonwoven industrial cotton does not need to pursue the characteristics of Xinjiang long-staple cotton, the company has launched in Wuhan this year The transferred land in Xinzhou District of the city is trial-planted with hand-picked cotton. In order to ensure the quality of cotton and avoid “three silks”, strict management standards are implemented in all aspects of planting, picking and processing. Currently, the company has seven factories in Hubei, located in traditional cotton-producing areas such as Huanggang, Tianmen, and Jingmen. In the future, as the planting area expands, equipment such as cotton ginning will be added to ensure quality.

“After the industrial chain is opened up, machine-picked cotton will definitely succeed!” Liu Shuang introduced that in 2022, Hubei Yinfeng Cotton Co., Ltd. piloted 400 acres of machine-picked cotton, which was the first time in the history of Hubei Province that a large field of several hundred acres was used. Achieve all machine harvesting; this year we will expand to more than 2,000 acres, focus on experiments to increase the yield per mu, and strive to achieve 300 kilograms of machine harvest per mu to achieve profitability. “200 acres is technically feasible, 2,000 acres is economically feasible, and next year it will be 20,000 acres, or even 200,000 acres. We must continue to do this firmly.” Liu Shuang said that the United States has suppressed stigmatized Xinjiang cotton, and the central government has adjusted the entire industrial layout. , as cotton area enterprises must respond to the call. It is understood that Hubei Province issued a special document last year to support Yinfeng in building a “big cotton merchant”.

To this end, scientific research institutes will provide strong scientific and technological support to enterprises.

“Success will be guaranteed if the nine major aspects of reform are mastered and the technology is in place.” Villa said that the implementation of machine-picked cotton in the Yangtze River Basin is a brand-new method that requires close cooperation between both parties. When the company has new needs, it will be immediately Organize experts to tackle technical problems. It is understood that the cotton team of the Economic Research Institute of the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has spent more than 10 years of scientific research and has developed the “Standardized Cultivation Technology of Machine-picked Cotton in the Yangtze River Basin”, which was successfully selected as the main technology model for cotton production by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2022.

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