Xinjiang Hebingtuan Outstanding Cotton Production
The world cotton looks at Xinjiang, Xinjiang cotton looks at the Corps. The climate is suitable for cotton cultivation. The Production and Construction Corps and mainland investors have created huge arable land resources through large-scale development of the Gobi Desert for decades. Over the past decades, agricultural technology research and development and promotion have been persistent, and the mainland agricultural land resources have gradually shifted to areas with greater comparative advantages. , The state’s subsidies to Xinjiang’s cotton industry... All of this has promoted the increasing concentration of domestic cotton planting in Xinjiang. As a result, cotton, together with oil and coal, has been called “two black and one white” and has long been a pillar industry in Xinjiang. The influence of the cotton market is also increasing:
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 1949, Xinjiang’s cotton output was only 5,100 tons, accounting for 1.1% of the country’s total output (444,000 tons) that year. In 1990, Xinjiang's cotton output was 468,800 tons, which accounted for more than 10% of the country's total output (4.5077 million tons). By 2018 and 2019, Xinjiang's cotton production will be 5.111 million tons and 5.002 million tons, accounting for 84% and 85% of the country's total output, respectively.
In this way, just based on the Xinjiang cotton target price of 18,600 yuan/ton, it has constituted a 100 billion yuan-level industry; coupled with downstream related industries, cotton has a more prominent position in Xinjiang’s economy, finances, and employment.
In the development of Xinjiang’s cotton industry, the Production and Construction Corps has played an irreplaceable leading role:
In 1950, the XPCC produced 400 tons of cotton on the newly developed ancient wasteland, accounting for 5.8% of the country’s total cotton output that year and 6.3% of Xinjiang’s cotton output. In 2005, the cotton production of the Corps was 1.0685 million tons, accounting for the highest peak of 57% of Xinjiang's cotton output, and accounting for 18.7% of the national cotton output (5.7142 million tons) that year.
In the following 10 years, with Xinjiang's continuous large-scale investment and development in the cotton industry (most of which came from inland investors), the XPCC's cotton production share in Xinjiang has declined, but its share in the country has increased by nearly twice . In 2019, the cotton production of the Corps was 2.028 million tons, accounting for 41% of Xinjiang's output and 34% of the national output.
Compared with the output, the importance of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in cotton production in Xinjiang and the whole country is more reflected in the leadership and main force in the research and development and promotion of cotton technology and production practices. From the beginning, the XPCC's agricultural production has clearly developed in the direction of modern large farms, leading the country in farmland planning and construction, agricultural mechanization, and other aspects. As early as 1957, relying on its own accumulation to initially realize agricultural production mechanization, it was far ahead of the country. Now, plant protection drones and other equipment are also the first to carry out large-scale experiments in Xinjiang cotton production.
Pandemics, floods, etc. hit China's cotton industry
In the spring and summer of this year, Xinjiang’s cotton-producing areas generally received more rainfall, which is conducive to cotton growth. However, Xinjiang is currently experiencing a rebound of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The main cotton-producing provinces in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui have suffered severe floods. The epidemic and floods have affected China The main cotton producing provinces have formed a tendency of flanking.
In Xinjiang, since the announcement of a new confirmed case on July 16, the severity of this wave of epidemic rebound has doubled over the period of the national anti-epidemic mobilization at the beginning of the year. From July 16 to 24:00 on August 3, Xinjiang has discovered a total of 648 newly confirmed cases during this wave of epidemic rebound, which greatly exceeds the cumulative number of confirmed cases (76) in the previous half a year. As of 24:00 on August 16, there were 378 confirmed cases in Xinjiang (including the Corps), 127 cases of asymptomatic infections, and 9446 people are still under medical observation. The central government attaches great importance to the rebound of the epidemic in Xinjiang, and local party and government leaders in Xinjiang are also determined to extinguish this rebound in August. According to the usual production cycle, Xinjiang cotton will be picked at the beginning of September at the latest.
In the Mainland, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui, the areas hardest hit by floods in southern China this year, are among the top cotton producing areas. From 2015 to 2019, although the proportion of cotton production in the four provinces in the country fell from 13.4% to 5.9%, the proportion of cotton production outside Xinjiang rose from 33% to about 40%. Huge efforts are still needed to recover and remedy the loss of cotton production in the four provinces caused by the flood this year.
Long-term challenge: Soil improvement of cotton fields in Xinjiang
Under the long-standing cotton production method, picking cotton is the most labor-intensive link, and the risk of gathering people and infection is the highest; in the links of production and transportation, China has now explored and formulated a set of effective epidemic prevention Measures, the risk of an outbreak is relatively low. For many years, during the cotton picking season from the end of August to the beginning of November, relevant departments have organized hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Henan, Gansu and other inland provinces to pick cotton in Xinjiang. As mentioned above, Xinjiang cotton will start picking at the beginning of September at the latest; in contrast to the Xinjiang local government’s goal of extinguishing this wave of epidemic rebound by mid-August, and the reality that important cotton-producing areas began to close and control the epidemic on July 28 Taking into account that the previous epidemic prevention in various places usually implemented stricter management for about half a month after the 14-day censorship period, it took 33 days for the epidemic to rebound in Beijing from June to July to achieve zero-clearing and emergency response in high-risk areas. It took 40 days to respond to the downgrade. To ensure the normal and smooth start of cotton picking, time is already relatively short, and the high-yield cotton varieties bolls are relatively easy to fall, and it is necessary to avoid the situation of high cotton yield and no harvest.
Fortunately, after years of persistent efforts, the cotton production rate of Xinjiang Corps, the main force in cotton production, has increased significantly. According to data from the National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps over the years, the mechanical cotton harvest rate of the Corps in 2015 was 68.9%, and in 2019 it has increased to 82%. According to the situation learned from the grassroots level, the current cotton harvest rate of many regiments and companies has increased to 90%. Large-scale mechanical harvesting of cotton can greatly reduce the risk of gathering and infection. At present, it is necessary to make every effort to further increase the cotton harvest rate in Xinjiang, and at the same time take measures to prevent epidemics from manual picking operations. Cotton picking machinery also needs to continuously improve its design to improve the quality of machine-picked cotton.
From a long-term perspective, Xinjiang cotton production needs to solve the problems of continuous cotton planting and extensive use of chemical fertilizers, such as soil fertility decline and soil compaction, in order to achieve sustainable development. From the overall statistics, the average yield of Xinjiang cotton fields has been rising for 70 years. Since 1988, the average yield of Xinjiang cotton fields has been higher than the national average for 32 consecutive years. It has increased from 1301 kg/ha to 2051 kg/ha from 1996 to 2018; However, according to the situation from the grassroots level, the yield of many continuously planted cotton fields in the XPCC has been significantly lower than that of more than 10 years ago. A large part of the increase in the average yield of Xinjiang cotton fields comes from newly opened cotton fields. Considering all factors, the most desirable way to solve this problem should be to combine with the development of animal husbandry industry, through the application of large amounts of farm manure to enhance soil fertility, improve soil, and increase revenue.
