Xinjiang to achieve 80% mechanization rate in cotton harvests this year

(ECNS) -- The mechanization rate of cotton harvests in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is expected to reach 80 percent this year, according to the region's Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Manas county in Northern Xinjiang has realized 100 percent mechanization in its 780,000 mu (52,000 hectares) of cotton fields.

The cotton harvesting period will last for nearly a month and is expected to be completed in middle and late October, with an average yield per mu (0.067 hectares) reaching 380-400 kg, said Zhou Xiaoyun, deputy researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Science.

Amanisa Aimer, a cotton grower in Maigaiti County, said he has a good harvest of 50 mu (around 3.33 hectares) of cotton fields under the guidance of technicians.

Xinjiang is an important cotton producing region. In 2021, Xinjiang planted 37.18 million mu (around 2.47 million hectares) of cotton fields, with an output of 5.129 million tons, accounting for 89.5 percent of the country's total cotton output.

This year the planting area reached 37.57 million mu (around 2.4 million hectares).