Judging from the international cotton spot price on April 13, the price of long-staple cotton in major countries such as the United States, Egypt and Israel continues to rise. Among them, the price of grade 2 Pima cotton in the United States has risen to 190 cents, and the 1% tariff is RMB The discount has exceeded the 30,000 mark. The price trend of domestic long-staple cotton and imported long-staple cotton has diverged. The main reason is that domestic high-count yarn products are mainly exported to the European and American markets, while the United States has long-standing bans on Xinjiang cotton and its products and unwarranted slander of human rights in Xinjiang. , enterprises can only turn to imported cotton to meet production needs.
Even if Xinjiang long-staple cotton is of excellent quality, in this context, plus long-staple cotton requires more energy and effort to grow and pick than fine-staple cotton. Cost, so as early as the end of October last year, when the editor was investigating long-staple cotton in Awati County, Aksu Region, the planting area of long-staple cotton in the county was declining, from 650,000 acres in 2019 to 450,000 acres in 2020. , the total output was also affected by the sharp decrease in area, and there was a significant reduction in output.
As the main producing county of long-staple cotton in Xinjiang, Awati County will ask whether the planting situation will continue to be sluggish this year and whether it will encounter abnormal weather during the sowing period. With these questions, we once again walked into the Awati County and summarized the situation as follows.
1. Relevant departments vigorously support the planting area of long-staple cotton or rebound slightly
It is understood that the relevant local departments require Awa Cotton farmers in Tixian County plant 30% of their cotton area in long-staple cotton, and they plan to plant about 520,000 acres this year. Although this requirement seems to be relatively mandatory, with the sharp reduction of long-staple cotton planting area, it is urgent to protect long-staple cotton. During the communication with local farmers, I learned why everyone has switched to machine-picked fine-staple cotton. First, long-staple cotton is still mainly picked manually. In recent years, it has been difficult to find flower pickers, and the cost of manual picking has remained high. The highest price is 3.0 yuan/kg. Secondly, the picking cycle of long-staple cotton is long, basically lasting from mid-September to December. Cotton farmers said, “People pick cotton by machine in two or three days. They go home and lie down to rest. We are still busy every day.” Especially last year, the price gap between long-staple cotton and fine-staple cotton was not big. Machine-picked cotton has low picking costs and saves time and effort. The enthusiasm for planting long-staple cotton has faded.
Although the experimental machine-picked long-staple cotton has also been studied in the past two years, after all, it has just begun. Machine-picked may have a certain loss on the length of the long-staple cotton, and the corresponding Impurities will increase, and farmers are hesitant. After all, no ginners have taken the initiative to purchase machine-picked long-staple cotton, so they still have a wait-and-see attitude. There are about 20 ginneries in Awati County that purchase and process long-staple cotton. Judging from last year’s purchase volume, it was relatively stable without major fluctuations, and farmers could basically guarantee sales.
2. The progress of sowing varies due to rainfall and strong winds
According to local professionals, Ah Sowing of long-staple cotton in Wati County can begin at the end of March at the earliest and in early May at the latest. Some are still leveling the land, and some have reseeded 2-3 times due to rain or windy weather in early April. However, if the temperature is suitable these days and reseeding is completed before the 20th, the overall impact will not be big. . If it is a few days later, the growth period of cotton may be shortened and the cotton will not be mature enough, thus affecting the yield. From the perspective of sowing patterns, long-staple cotton is the same as fine-staple cotton. Most of them are one film with six rows, and the whole process is mechanized.
3. Multiple factors affect the increase in yield per mu
In addition to the decline in long-staple cotton area, the local area has recently In recent years, the yield level of long-staple cotton has only been around 300 kg/mu. Last year, the weather conditions were suitable and the yield increased, with some reaching more than 400 kg/mu. According to relevant professionals in the seed industry, soil environment, cotton seeds, weather, and management levels will all affect cotton yield per mu. Because some land has been planted with cotton for a long time, the organic content of the soil has been decreasing year by year. In addition, more and more chemical fertilizers are used, which cannot provide a good growing environment for cotton. In addition, different plots require the selection of appropriate cotton species, and the management methods of each cotton species are somewhat different. The combination of multiple factors will inevitably affect the cotton yield per acre. Farmers also need to fundamentally find suitable cotton seeds and management methods, and improve the soil environment to lay the foundation for increasing yield and quality. </p
