How to get out of the trough

Mid-autumn season, Dongting Lake cotton area, cotton boll opening.

Forecasts on cotton prices are worrying cotton farmers. This year, the country cancelled the temporary purchase and storage of cotton. The price of cotton is in line with international standards, which is equivalent to about 6.8 yuan per kilogram of seed cotton, which is a 15% reduction from the previous year.

“Last year due to drought, cotton farmers reduced their incomes; this year's withdrawal from temporary reserves, cotton prices fell.” Li Yi, director of the Provincial Cotton Institute, said that domestic cotton prices have been higher than the international market, the country’s temporary cotton purchasing and storage policy has played a "Effect. At present, the state cancels the temporary purchase and storage of cotton. The newly implemented pilot reform of the cotton target price is limited to the Xinjiang cotton area. Inland cotton areas are not included in the trial, and it will be difficult to grow cotton.

Li Yuqiang, chief expert of the modern agricultural cotton industry technical system in Hunan Province, said that Xiangmian must rely on science and technology to reduce manpower, increase costs, increase efficiency, and get out of the bottom.

The comparative benefits of cotton are reduced

Huaihe County Xinhe Township, cotton tens of thousands of acres. In the village of Shakou, Liu Kehua, a cotton farmer, is picking up rotten peaches in the field. "This year's rain is heavy, the pests and diseases are serious, and the cotton is not growing well."

Liu Kehua planted 20 mu of cotton this year. He counts the accounts, plant an acre of cotton, and the cost of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides is 500 yuan.

"The cotton is too labor-consuming. If you count the money, you must lose money." Liu Kehua said that from the beginning of April, seedlings, planting, soil preparation, transplanting, weeding, chemical conversion, pest control, and the end of the flower collection in early December, an average of an acre of cotton 22 working days, accounting for more than 80% of the cost of cotton.

The hybrid cotton planted by Liu Kehua is from September to November. According to the calculation of 250 kilograms of seed cotton per mu, one person picks 30 to 40 kilograms of seed cotton at most every day and picks at least 7 days. Work for a short day in the local area, the wage is not less than 150 yuan.

Last year, the inland cotton district implemented a national policy of temporary storage and storage. Lint cotton was 19,000 yuan per ton, which was equivalent to about 7.8 yuan per kilogram of seed cotton. However, last year, drought, the province's cotton yields hit a discount, the income of cotton farmers is not ideal.

Most of the farmers in Shakou Village grow cotton, only a few families of corn. Last year, the villagers planted an acre of cotton for 600 yuan less than an acre of corn.

According to relevant statistics, the decline in comparative benefits has led to the reduction of the province’s cotton cultivation area from 353 million mu last year to 2.8 million mu this year.

In the eyes of some cotton farmers, they plant cotton for a lifetime, and now cotton is like a “chicken rib” and does not make money. To change other crops, not to mention technology, the market can't hold it either.

Dongting Lake area is difficult to replace cotton

From a national point of view, cotton supply and demand are basically balanced. Due to the low price of imported cotton, it is quite attractive to cotton spinning enterprises. About one-third of the total cotton used in China is imported from abroad each year. Correspondingly, cotton grown by farmers has been temporarily collected and stored by the state in the past few years.

Focusing on the cotton security strategy, the state will give priority to supporting the three major cotton regions (ie, Xinjiang, the Yangtze River Basin, and the Yellow River Basin). This year, the country cancelled the temporary purchase and storage of cotton, and only in the Xinjiang cotton area, the pilot reform of the cotton target price was implemented. The state has announced that the target price of cotton is 19,800 yuan per ton, which ensures the increase of farmers' income in Xinjiang. Inland two major cotton areas are not included in the pilot, and it is difficult to enjoy this preferential policy.

This means that the price of cotton in our province will directly face the international market. Now the price of imported lint Cif is around RMB 16,000 per tonne, which is RMB 3,000 lower than last year’s national temporary reserve price. To convert into seed cotton, the price will drop by around 1 yuan per kilogram.

"Compared with last year's drought, withdrawal from Lincang made farmers even more worried." According to Peng Changcheng, head of the Yueyang Experimental Station of the province's cotton industry, there is no policy support to grow cotton without making money, and cotton farmers will switch to other crops, and the cotton area will shrink.

As the main cotton producing province in the Yangtze River Valley, our province is the only province in China that only breeds hybrid cotton. For a long time, the yield of Xiangmian cotton has always been among the highest. In normal years, the total cotton output of our province is close to 6 million, ranking fifth in the country.

“At present, it is only a low point. It is difficult to replace cotton in the Dongting Lake area.” According to expert analysis, after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam, the water level of the Dongting Lake has dropped, and the area suitable for planting cotton has been expanding. Although the cotton species has consumed many workers, it is suitable for the elderly and women; Hunan The cotton spinning industry has a pulling effect on local cotton; for some heavy metal pollution areas, it is a good choice to cut the pollution chain of cotton.

From a national point of view, Xinjiang and the northwest are limited by the shortage of water resources, and the large-scale expansion of cotton is not “favorable”; maintaining the “three pillars” of the three major cotton regions in Xinjiang, the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin can ensure the safety of China’s cotton production.

Mechanized cotton farmers "happy cotton planting"

"The cost of growing cotton is high, and it is mainly too labor-consuming. If farmers lose cotton, farmers will certainly abandon the species." Li Yuqiang said that the current difficulties have pointed out the direction for cotton production, research, and development in our province: doing everything possible to save labor, save money, and increase efficiency. To ensure that the income of cotton farmers in a reasonable range.

Since 2012, the provincial finance and agriculture departments have focused on supporting the cotton industry technology system. The research team led by Professor Li Yuqiang as the chief expert put forward: All for mechanization, assembling practical technologies to help cotton farmers “happy cotton planting”.

In the past two years, the research team has set up experimental stations in Yueyang, Hengyang and Changde to explore the precise live technology of cotton machinery and has achieved success. In Huarong County and Dingcheng District, experts demonstrated that the processes of seeding, soil preparation, seedling raising, and transplanting in the early stage of cotton production were simplified to a precise process of mechanical live broadcasting; technologies such as aircraft pest control and mechanical fertilization were assembled to realize the main links in the early stage of production. "Mechanical substitution".

In the most flower-consuming sectors, mechanized picking has also made progress. Hybrid cotton has more peaches per plant and a longer period of boll opening, which is not conducive to mechanized picking. Expert team through research, change the hybrid cotton into regular cotton, dwarf plants, reasonable close planting, stable total number of bolls, achieve early maturation and concentrated boll opening, suitable for mechanized picking.

At present, the country has developed cotton picking machinery suitable for the cotton fields in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys. Provincial Cotton Institute is preparing to hold a cotton mechanized picking site meeting in the lake area. According to expert calculations, only one item of mechanical picking can be used, which can save more than six working days per mu.

Chief expert Li Yuqiang predicted that within five to 10 years, Hunan’s cotton production is expected to achieve full mechanization and reduce employment by two-thirds. By then, it will be more economical and easier to grow cotton than to grow rice. Xiang Cotton will come out of the trough and usher in great development.