Xinjiang's Uygur farmer sows seeds of hope in cotton fields

Photo taken on March 26, 2021 shows Abdusali Awut busy preparing for the cotton seed sowing in Shache County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. [Xinhua/Ma Kai]

URUMQI -- Abdusali Awut, a farmer from northwest China's Xinjiang, has completed the most important task this spring in just two days -- planting seeds in his 20-hectare cotton field.

Growing up in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, now the largest cotton-growing area in the country, Awut has been dealing with the crop since teenage. Awut's mother raised him and his two sisters from the income generated by cultivating a two-hectare cotton field.

Compared with the laborious work in the old days, cotton farming has now become far more efficient and environment-friendly for Abdusali Awut and his family thanks to modern irrigation technologies and agricultural mechanization.

The Shache County in the region, where Awut lives, is close to the Taklimakan Desert, the world's second-largest shifting desert with a dry climate and scarce rainfall. To tackle these challenges, Awut waters his fields through drip irrigation, which, according to him, can "meet the needs of more cotton." He also covers the cotton seeds with a kind of film to maintain a certain temperature and humidity.

Mechanization is another tool to help simplify his farm work. "Three years ago, I needed to hire eight to 10 workers, and it would take them nearly 10 days to complete the seed planting," he said.

However, now the work can be done within two days with the help of two tractors and at a lower cost, Awut added. "The cost of sowing via mechanical means is less than 1,500 yuan (about 229.35 U.S. dollars), which is quite cost-effective compared with the manual labor costing around 10,000 yuan."

In addition to the sowing, mechanization techniques have also been thoroughly applied to the region's cotton farming. With the help of cotton pickers, pesticide spraying drones and other machinery, Awut has seen a big surge in his income, earning about 200,000 yuan last year.

In Xinjiang, cotton spring sowing kicks off from irrigation areas. The peak period of cotton sowing comes in early April in the southern areas, while that in the northern part of the region starts a few days later.

Awut has set a new goal this year -- buying a car for his wedding next year. "I have planted cotton seeds in the soil, hoping to 'harvest' a car in autumn," he said.