Scientific And Technological Empowerment: Mechanized Harvesting In The Whole Process Greatly Reduces The Cost Of Xinjiang Cotton Fields

The mechanization of cotton picking has not only profoundly changed the way of cotton picking in Xinjiang, allowing cotton farmers to completely say goodbye to the labor mode of "bending over to pick up cotton", greatly reducing the human burden, but also hastening the birth of new jobs, helping cotton farmers to live a better life.

In the north and south of Tianshan Mountains, cotton fields are opening up, and it is another golden autumn to chase white waves. Xinjiang ushers in the busiest cotton harvest season.

In recent years, cotton pickers have been popularized and applied in large areas all over Xinjiang. Cotton harvesting has basically realized the mechanization of the whole process, and the cost of harvesting has been greatly reduced. In 2023, Xinjiang will invest nearly 7000 cotton pickers to carry out mechanized harvesting operations. The mechanized recovery rate will increase from 35% in 2014 to more than 85% in 2023, and the comprehensive benefits of cotton production will steadily increase.

Cotton picker replaces "flower picker"

"Flowers bloom like snow, and cotton picking is picturesque." In the vast cotton fields of Awati County, the "hometown of Chinese long staple cotton", domestic cotton pickers roar forward in the ground, picking, compressing, packaging, and finishing in one go. In 15 minutes, a "golden egg" weighing up to 2 tons can be "born". 　

The cotton picker collects new cotton in a cotton field in Xiaoquan Village, Wugongtai Town, Hutubi County.

"One cotton picker (three rows) can harvest 130 mu of cotton in one day, which is equivalent to 300 to 400 people picking cotton in one day." When talking about the harvest scene, Li Bo, the head of Awati County Weimao Crop Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative, was pleased. He said that seven years ago, he contracted 1300 mu of land to grow cotton. In the cotton picking season, he often couldn't sleep all night because he couldn't find flower pickers. One kilogram of cotton costs 2 yuan, while the labor cost of one mu of land is about 500 yuan. If you dig out the cost, you can hardly make any money. " Li Bo said.

Nowadays, mechanized cotton picking is very convenient, which saves time and labor. Li Bo only needs to make an appointment in advance before the cotton blooms, so there is a cotton picker to harvest cotton on time. "I found two cotton pickers, and it only took five days to complete all the picking work. The machine picking cost of one mu of land is 200 yuan, which can save 60000 yuan compared with finding cotton pickers!" Li Bo said.

A cotton picker is worth a team of "flower pickers", which is an economic account for cotton farmers; For the development of cotton in Xinjiang, this is an industrial evolution road where machinery replaces manpower.

Around 2010, cotton in Xinjiang was mainly picked manually. Every cotton picking season, a large number of cotton pickers from Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia and other places will take the "special train for cotton picking" to Xinjiang. Nowadays, with the promotion of land scale and agricultural mechanization, cotton pickers with high efficiency and low cost have become the first choice of cotton farmers. Seasonal cotton picking labor has decreased year by year, and the "special train for cotton picking" has gradually become history.

"Under the guidance of the national agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, the cotton machine picking rate has rapidly increased, forming a replacement for manual cotton picking. This is also the fundamental reason for the reduction of the cotton picking army." He Chongqing, senior engineer of the Agricultural Machinery Promotion Center of Awati County Agricultural and Rural Bureau, said, "At present, more than 1.3 million mu of cotton in the county has entered the harvest period, and 257 cotton pickers have been invested in cotton harvesting, which has greatly improved the production efficiency."

"Made in China Intelligently" Pilot Cotton Machine Picking

On October 16, China's first cotton picker with completely independent intellectual property rights - "Zhongcai No.1" cotton picker pilot test results seminar was held in Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone (Toutunhe District) Intelligent Terminal Electronics Industrial Park.

Tian Yongjun, general manager of Xinjiang Tianwang Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and inventor of "Zhongcai No.1" cotton picker, said, "The production and promotion of new machine picking technology will help us get rid of the shackles of foreign machine picking models and provide important equipment support for the high-quality development of Xinjiang cotton industry."

Cotton picker is one of the equipment with the highest "gold content" in the field of agricultural machinery. Before 2018, the cotton picker market in Xinjiang was monopolized by foreign imports. In recent years, with the encouragement and support of the state, Bosheran, Swan, Ward Agricultural Machinery and other domestic enterprises have invested in the production of cotton pickers. The market share of domestic cotton pickers has gradually increased, and they continue to catch up with foreign brands in terms of picking rate, intelligence and other aspects, achieving a magnificent turn from "following" to "running together" and even "leading".

In the modern agricultural machinery equipment industrial park in Shaya County, Bosheran plant area presents a busy scene. In the workshop, hundreds of cotton pickers more than 5 meters high and more than 10 meters long are being assembled on the assembly line; Outside the workshop, the cotton pickers that have been sold and that showed their skills in the last cotton picking season are lined up and returned to the factory for maintenance.

Low price and high cost performance are the outstanding advantages of domestic cotton pickers. "For example, a three line self-propelled round bale cotton picker sells for 2.28 million yuan with a government subsidy of 400000 yuan; a six line self-propelled round bale cotton picker sells for 4.68 million yuan, which can be picked manually by 1500 people, about 3 million yuan cheaper than foreign imports." The salesperson said.

"Boshiran cotton picker has won wide favor in the domestic and foreign markets because of its simple operation and high cost performance. At present, the products are not only sold to Xinjiang, Gansu, Hubei, Anhui and other places, but also exported to the international market." Liu Quan, HR and administrative manager of Shaya Boshiran Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., said.

In 2018, as a Zhejiang aid enterprise to Xinjiang, Boshiran came to Shaya County to invest in the construction of intelligent agricultural machinery Co., Ltd. From the original traction type to self-propelled type, from 3 lines to 6 lines, from box type to round bale packing... Boshen Ran has successively obtained 178 patents in the field of cotton pickers, becoming a national specialized, special and new "little giant" enterprise.

Innovation driven, late start first, cotton picker updating and iteration, not only represents the development process of China's agriculture, but also reflects the national economic strength, scientific and technological strength.

At present, the mechanized cotton recovery rate in Xinjiang has exceeded 85%, and the domestic cotton pickers account for more than 80% of the market in Xinjiang. More and more "made in China" are shining "the light of domestic products" in Xinjiang cotton fields.

Cotton picker expedites new occupation

Wang Weiwei, 33, has two jobs. During the cotton picking season, he was a cotton picker driver. Other times, he worked in his own field. The income from two jobs made him full of confidence in life.

"The cotton picker I drive is a 'three head machine', which can pick three rows of cotton at a time. It can pick 130 mu a day by working with another driver in shifts. The salary is very considerable, 20000 yuan a month!" Wang Weiwei said excitedly.

Two years ago, after hearing about the high salary of cotton picker drivers, Wang Wenwei came to the professional cooperative of crop planting farmers in Awati County as an apprentice and obtained a cotton picker driver's license. Later, he signed an employment contract with the cooperative and became a cotton picker driver. "The salary is high and there is a shortage of people, which means the occupation of cotton picker driver. Many young people around me have begun to learn cotton picker driving skills."

With the advancement of agricultural modernization, the widespread use of cotton pickers not only improves the speed and efficiency of cotton picking, but also drives the development of related professions.

Ruan Kuixing, from the Seventh Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, not only planted his own cotton fields, but also worked part-time in cotton picker leasing services, which not only increased income, but also provided convenience for surrounding cotton farmers.

In 2022, Ruan Kuixing spent 4.8 million yuan to buy a Ward brand 6-row packing cotton picker in partnership. "This year, the operating cost of cotton harvester is 160 to 180 yuan per mu, and one cotton harvester can pick more than 400 mu of cotton a day. Now there is a large demand for cotton harvester, which has picked more than 4700 mu. It is estimated that this year it can pick more than 6000 mu, with an increase of more than 1 million yuan." said Ruan Kuixing.

The mechanization of cotton picking has not only profoundly changed the way of cotton picking in Xinjiang, allowing cotton farmers to completely say goodbye to the labor mode of "bending over to pick up cotton", greatly reducing the human burden, but also hastening the birth of new jobs, helping cotton farmers to live a better life.

Science and technology, which is reshaping agriculture and profoundly changing farmers' lives, will also become an important driving force on the road to rural revitalization.