On April 27, the Yangtze River Cotton HighQuality Development Forum and Industry Situation Analysis meeting was held in Han. Experts attending the meeting discussed “exploring new paths for the development of the cotton industry in the Yangtze River Basin under the new pattern.” held discussions on other topics and provided suggestions on new opportunities for Hubei cotton development.
Three main factors restricting cotton production in the mainland
In 2022, Xinjiang’s cotton production ranked first in the country, with 5.391 million tons, accounting for 10% of the country’s cotton production. 90% of the output is followed by Shandong and Hebei, which are located in the Yellow River Basin, with output of 145,000 tons and 139,000 tons respectively, each accounting for about 2% of the country’s total. 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 recovery of mainland cotton in recent years production and 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 Yellow River and Xinjiang production areas. In the past few years, under the guidance of policies, China’s cotton The main 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, low efficiency, application of new technologies and Promotion creates obstacles.” Villa, deputy director of the Economic Crops Research Institute of the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, believes that “cotton prices fluctuate greatly, cotton farmers’ income is unstable; the planting scale is small, cotton picking requires a lot of labor; and lack of confidence in mechanical picking” are the constraints for Hubei cotton. Three main factors for plantation development. “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.” Hubei Bank Liu Shuang, general manager of Fengmian 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, inadequate subsidy policy support is 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, 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, Xinjiang cotton’s ‘three silk’ problems (referring to colored fibers mixed in cotton , hair silk and down) are difficult to control in the short term, affecting product quality. Ji Hua, vice president of Shenzhen Cotton Times Technology Co., Ltd. and vice president of R&D of Wenwen Medical Products Co., Ltd., said that in view of nonwovens industrial cotton does not need to pursue Xinjiang’s long-term development Due to the characteristics of velvet cotton, the company is trial planting hand-picked cotton on transferred land in Xinzhou District, Wuhan City this year. 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 There are 7 factories located in traditional cotton producing areas such as Huanggang, Tianmen and Jingmen. In the future, as the planting area expands, ginning and other equipment 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. The company has piloted 400 acres of machine-picked cotton, which is the first time in the history of Hubei Province that all hundreds of acres of large fields have been harvested by machines. This year, it will be expanded to more than 2,000 acres, with key experiments to increase the yield per mu and strive to achieve 300 kilograms of machine-picked cotton per mu. 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. This must be done firmly. Liu Shuang said that the United States has suppressed the stigmatization of Xinjiang cotton, and the central government has adjusted the layout of the entire industry. Enterprises in cotton areas 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.
”Major reforms in 9 aspects, the technology is in place, and Success is guaranteed. “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 immediately organize expert technical research. It is understood that the cotton team of the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Economic Research Institute has spent more than 10 years on scientific research , has developed the “Standardized Cultivation Technology of Machine-picked Cotton in the Yangtze River Basin” and 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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