By comparing the costs and benefits of cotton planting in the main cotton-producing areas along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province and the large cotton-growing households in 2021, combined with the actual situation of local cotton planting, the cotton planting trend in the main cotton-producing areas along the Yangtze River has begun to change from that of ordinary cotton-growing households. There has been a shift towards mainly large cotton farmers. The reasons for the change are analyzed as follows:
1. Comparison of cotton planting costs
1. General farmers’ planting costs: The average physical and chemical costs of cotton seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. are about 550 yuan/acre.
2. Cost of planting for large cotton growers: average land rental cost of 360 yuan/mu, cotton seeds 20 yuan/mu, compound fertilizer, urea and other fertilizers 100 yuan /mu, the cost of mechanical farming is 55 yuan/mu, the cost of aircraft spraying and weeding is 50 yuan/mu, the labor cost of picking flowers is 1.2×400=480 yuan/mu, the total cost of cotton planting is 1065 yuan/mu.
2. Comparison of income from cotton planting
1. The labor remuneration of ordinary farmers is not considered Under the premise, based on the average seed cotton yield of 500 kilograms per mu and the seed cotton price of 4.80 yuan / kilogram, the income from cotton planting is 500 × 4.80-550 = 1900 yuan / mu. Based on the farmer’s contract size of 5 acres and the farmer’s farming ability, the income from planting 5 acres of cotton is 9,500 yuan.
2. Without considering the labor wages of large cotton growers, based on the average seed cotton yield of 400 kilograms per mu and the seed cotton price of 4.70 yuan/jin, the seed cotton price is 4.70 yuan/jin. The income is 400×4.70-1065=815 yuan/mu. Based on the current scale of 100 acres of cotton fields generally managed by large cotton farmers, the annual income from cotton planting is 815×100=81,500 yuan.
3. Analysis of cotton planting trends
(1) The number of general cotton farmers is unstable
1. Cotton is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and it is easy for cotton farmers to change crops;
2. Farmers have less contracted land and there is no income scale effect;
3. The aging problem is very prominent, and the cotton planting labor force is decreasing year by year. First, most of the current cotton growers are the elderly, whose age is increasing year by year, and their working ability is weakening year by year, and they eventually lose their ability to work; second, young people working outside will not return to their hometowns to grow cotton, and the rural cotton planting labor force cannot be supplemented.
(2) The number of large cotton farmers is on the rise
1. Degree of mechanization Getting higher and higher
Since Anhui Province began to implement machine-picked cotton demonstration planting in 2013, the summer direct-seeded cotton technology in the cotton areas along the Yangtze River has become mature, and machine-picked cotton has Cotton acquisition and processing have made progress, and the lint detection indicators are ideal, which is very popular among textile companies. In recent years, large-scale field promotion in Wangjiang, Susong and other areas of Anqing has implemented the simultaneous sowing of seeds and fertilizers with seeders, spraying of pesticides and weeds by aircraft, and chemical topping. Only the mechanical harvesting part of the whole process relies on manual picking. With the gradual improvement of various technologies and the accumulation of experience, the realization of machine procurement will be just around the corner. After the entire cotton planting process is mechanized, the cost of planting will drop significantly.
2. Support from national policies
The country attaches great importance to the restoration of cotton in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins. The preferential policies for regional development, coupled with the rise of family farms, the emergence of large cotton growers, and policy and technical support will all be conducive to the choice of large growers to grow cotton. Therefore, from the perspective of planting scale effect, the income of large cotton farmers is much higher than that of ordinary farmers.
Based on the above analysis, although the planting costs of large cotton farmers in the mainland are higher than that of ordinary farmers, the returns have scale effects. As the cost of cotton cultivation in the mainland has been reduced due to mechanical harvesting, and the state has encouraged cotton cultivation to achieve large-scale and mechanization, the income from cotton cultivation has been reduced year by year under the premise that the cotton planting labor force has been reduced. Cotton cultivation in the mainland has gradually shifted from being dominated by ordinary cotton farmers to being dominated by cotton farmers. The dominance of large cotton growers has begun to change.
Currently, preliminary predictions of cotton planting area at tracking and monitoring points in the main cotton-producing areas along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province indicate that the number of ordinary farmers growing cotton this year has declined. The cotton planting area has increased and decreased, and has generally remained stable at most; while the number of large cotton planting households has increased, and the cotton planting area has generally increased, and some have increased significantly, even doubling. </p
