(ECNS) -- Farmers in Yarkant County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, are celebrating a bumper harvest of some 53,000 hectares of cotton.
Lack of technological support and professional instruction once prevented higher yields in the area.
But the situation has improved with the help of researchers from the Cotton Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
They teach farmers to use advanced technology and standard planting management methods.
The institute also provided 75 tons of free high-quality cotton seeds at the beginning of 2020.
"The institute researchers offered us good seeds, taught us when to water and spray the pesticide, and managed the cotton field with us. This year we harvested 400 kg cotton in one mu (0.67 ha)," said Abdurishit, a villager at Yarkant County.
The cotton was sold at a higher price with better quality, he added.
Yarkant has since opened more ginning factories with the expansion of the industry, providing more job opportunities for local people.
