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Analysis of Cotton Production Status and Key Supporting Technologies in Xinjiang

Written By

Liwen Tian, Feng Shi, Jianping Cui and Honghai Luo

Submitted: 24 May 2025 Reviewed: 03 June 2025 Published: 04 July 2025

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.1011390

Cotton Production Trends and Uses IntechOpen
Cotton Production Trends and Uses Edited by Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov

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Cotton Production Trends and Uses [Working Title]

Prof. Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov

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Abstract

This article deeply analyzes the current situation and key technologies of cotton production in Xinjiang. From 2020 to 2024, the average total fiber yield, planting area, and unit yield of cotton in Xinjiang reached 5.296 million tons, 2.4644 million hectares, and 2149.72 kg/ha, respectively. Among them, the highest total yield, planting area, and unit yield were 5.686 million tons, 2.5061 million hectares, and 2322.8 kg/ha, respectively. Additionally, the cotton quality of Xinjiang is excellent, and the comprehensive mechanization operation coverage rate has reached 97.0%. The success of Xinjiang’s cotton industry is primarily attributed to the development and promotion of a series of cotton planting technologies with distinct regional characteristics and leading technological levels, including identifying the “early, short, and dense” cultivation mode as a technological breakthrough, integrating comprehensive prevention and control of pest, disease, weed, and natural disaster, water-saving through mulched drip irrigation, and standardized management of mechanically harvested cotton. These technologies fully demonstrate the high adaptability of local cotton production techniques to natural conditions. Through these advanced technologies, the unfavorable factors of relatively poor natural ecological conditions in Xinjiang’s cotton region have been overcome, and the goal of high and stable cotton yield, high quality, simple, and efficient, has been successfully achieved. Xinjiang cotton not only provides strong support for local economic and social development, but also offers a “China Xinjiang cotton cultivation application plan” for the high quality and sustainable development of global cotton, particularly in cotton production areas with similar natural ecological conditions as Xinjiang.

Keywords

  • Xinjiang cotton production
  • “early short and dense” planting mode
  • integrated management of pests
  • diseases
  • weeds and natural disasters
  • mulched drip irrigation
  • machine picked

1. Introduction

As one of the world’s important cotton-producing countries, China’s production has consistently ranked among the top two in the world, which is inseparable from the solid support provided by cotton production in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang cotton region is located in the inland area, spanning 34°20′ N ~ 47°15′ N latitude, consisting of multiple oasis plains separated by the Gobi Desert. The climate belongs to a typical temperate continental climate, with dry and rainless summers and an average annual precipitation of only about 125 millimeters, but abundant light resources and a large temperature difference between day and night; winters are extremely cold and dry, resulting in generally lower pressure for the occurrence and prevention of pests and diseases, and the peak period of alpine snowmelt in spring and summer highly coincides with the critical water demand period for cotton. In addition, cotton fields in this region are characterized by significant human management and control [1, 2]. This region’s unique geographical and ecological environment has laid a solid natural foundation for high yield and high quality in the cotton-growing areas of Xinjiang. However, the Xinjiang cotton region faces multiple challenges, including a short frost-free period, relatively limited heat resources, uneven spatial and temporal distribution of light and heat resources, seasonal water shortages, severe soil salinization, poor soil fertility, and weak water and fertilizer retention capacity. These factors led to multiple constraints and challenges to the ecological environment system of the cotton growing areas, seriously affecting its stability and thus threatening the sustainable development of cotton production in Xinjiang [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].

To address the above-mentioned challenges, Xinjiang’s scientific and technological personnel have jointly tackled the problem and constructed a modern cotton production technology system suitable for the local natural ecological conditions. This system is based on the “early, short, and dense” planting mode, integrating standardized management of key technologies, such as precision seeding and supporting seedling protection, precision water and fertilizer integration under plastic mulch drip irrigation, prevention and control of pests, weeds, diseases, and natural disasters, and integration of machinery and agronomy. These measures vigorously promoted the transformation of Xinjiang’s cotton industry toward light, simple, efficient, and green development. As of now, the comprehensive mechanization rate of cotton in Xinjiang has reached 97.0%, with the cotton fields achieving full process mechanical operation coverage from soil preparation, sowing, tillage, water and fertilizer management, chemical topping, defoliation, and ripening to mechanical harvesting. Notably, a small number of core demonstration fields have achieved unmanned management and control of cotton planting by relying on modern intelligent information technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15].

Due to the systematic and efficient technological development in Xinjiang’s cotton region, Xinjiang cotton has led the country in five indicators of total production, yield per unit, commodity export rate, outward transfer volume, and per capita possession for 32 consecutive years since 1993. The total annual Xinjiang cotton production is now stable at over 5.1 million tons, accounting for over 90% of the country’s total cotton production. Even compared with other major cotton-producing countries worldwide, Xinjiang’s cotton planting area, yield per unit, and total production are still among the top, and the overall cotton quality is excellent. Undoubtedly, Xinjiang has become an important cotton-producing area recognized by China and even the world [16, 17, 18].

This article provides an objective and systematic review of the current status of cotton production and its supporting technologies in Xinjiang, aiming to present the breakthrough achievements of Xinjiang’s cotton planting technology system to domestic and international peers, and offer replicable technical application solutions for global cotton-producing regions, particularly cotton production areas with ecological conditions similar to Xinjiang. This has important demonstration significance and reference value for promoting the high-quality development of the global cotton industry, while enhancing Xinjiang’s recognition and influence in the global cotton industry landscape.

2. Current situation of cotton production in Xinjiang

2.1 Production scale

Statistical data show that from 2020 to 2024, the average annual total production, planting area, and unit yield of cotton in Xinjiang reached 5.296 million tons, 2.4644 million hectares, and 2149.7 kg/ha, respectively. Among them, the total production in 2024 reached a historic high of 5.686 million tons, accounting for 92.2% of China’s total production and 22.0% of the global total production, respectively; the planting area reached a peak of 2.5061 million hectares in 2021, accounting for 82.8% of China’s total planting area and 7.8% of the global planting area respectively; the yield per hectare reached 2322.8 kg/ha in 2024, which was 1.1 times the national average yield per hectare and 2.9 times the world average yield per hectare. As one of the world’s core cotton-producing regions, although Xinjiang’s planting area accounts for only 7.8% of the global total, it has ultimately produced more than one-fifth of the world’s total cotton production by relying on significant technological and yield per unit advantages (Table 1) [19, 20].

Year20202021202220232024Average
Total production (million tons)5.1615.1295.3915.1125.6865.296
Area (million hectares)2.50192.50612.49692.36932.44792.4644
Yield per hectare (kg/ha)2062.72046.42158.92157.82322.82149.7

Table 1.

Cotton production in Xinjiang from 2020 to 2024.

2.2 Fiber quality

The fiber types of cotton in Xinjiang exhibit obvious unitary characteristics, mainly reflected in the composition of raw cotton, with upland cotton accounting for over 99%, while island cotton accounts for only about 1%. Among them, upland cotton fibers exhibit a bright white appearance with excellent internal quality indicators; island cotton fiber appearance color is slightly inferior to that of upland cotton, but they are still of the pure white type, and their main fiber internal quality indicators are more outstanding (Table 2). Although Xinjiang island cotton has shortcomings in terms of maturity, mercerization, and elasticity indicators compared to the best quality island cotton varieties in Giza strain of Egypt (such as Giza 45 and Giza 87), resulting in not entirely satisfactory quality in dyeing uniformity and color fastness, its fibers possess characteristics of ultra-long and ultra-fine texture, high length uniformity index, and few impurities, which still endowed it with unique advantages in spinning ultra-high count yarns of 120 s or even above 200 s. Especially in the context of Giza 45 and Giza 87 being unable to be imported, Xinjiang island cotton has become the choice for domestic textile enterprises to produce high-end yarn raw materials.

Composition of raw cotton2.5% span length (mm)Strength (cN/tex)Uniformity Index (%)Elongation (%)Reflectance (%)Micronaire value
Upland cotton29.5 ~ 33.129.6 ~ 33.884.5 ~ 86.56.8 ~ 7.975 ~ 873.9 ~ 4.5
Island cotton37.2 ~ 40.143.8 ~ 47.586.7 ~ 89.66.8 ~ 8.874 ~ 783.8 ~ 4.3

Table 2.

Main fiber quality index parameters of upland cotton and island cotton.

Due to Xinjiang producing a large amount of high-quality cotton, it plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring the raw material supply for large cotton textile enterprises in China. Prior to the “Xinjiang Cotton Incident”, China’s total textile and clothing exports accounted for as high as 33.7% of the world’s total textile and clothing exports, of which a considerable proportion of the raw materials for cotton products came from Xinjiang cotton, which fully demonstrates the enormous contribution of Xinjiang’s cotton industry to the global textile market [21, 22].

However, currently approximately 10% of cotton in Xinjiang, including upland cotton and island cotton, still relies on manual picking methods. Due to manual harvesting, the problem of “three silk” (heterogeneous, heteromorphic, and heterochromatic fibers) contamination inevitably occurs, which to a certain extent limits the production of bleached yarns and the quality assurance of high-end cotton textiles.

3. Key technologies of cotton production in Xinjiang

3.1 “Early, short, dense” cultivation techniques theory

In response to the climate characteristics of short frost-free period and limited heat in the Xinjiang cotton region, an innovative planting model of “early, short, and dense” with “early” as the core has been proposed. Through a series of technical measures to promote “early” growth, accelerate the cotton growth process, and achieve precise adaptation of cotton plant growth to climatic conditions, to achieve the technical goal of “seedlings in April, buds in May, flowers in June, bolls in July, cotton boll opening in August in northern Xinjiang, and cotton boll opening in September in southern Xinjiang” [12, 23, 24, 25]. The specific implementation path is as follows:

  1. Early sowing at the appropriate time. Cotton field sowing operation is usually completed before April 20th. Although at this time (especially in early and middle of April), the soil temperature at 5 cm underground is generally lower than the stable temperature threshold of above 14°C or more required for seed germination, studies have found that plastic film mulching can increase the soil temperature in the 5 cm soil layer by 2.5–4.5°C, which effectively meets the suitable temperature conditions required for of cotton seed germination and emergence. Therefore, plastic film covering technology is the most crucial and preferred supporting measure for early sowing operations in Xinjiang cotton fields [26];

  2. Planting early maturing varieties. Considering the frost-free periods in southern and northern Xinjiang are 180–220 days and 140–180 days, respectively, which are relatively short, and there are significant differences in climate characteristics between the two cotton regions, it is specified that the full growth period of the main cotton varieties planted in southern and northern Xinjiang should be 124–128 days and 118–123 days, respectively, to ensure that the rate of pre-frost flowering reaches over 85% in normal years;

  3. Early intertillage. The intertillage operations are carried out immediately after sowing. This technology effectively raises soil temperature and improves soil aeration by dredging the soil, which can synergistically promote the early growth of cotton seedlings and early development of strong seedlings, while also having the role of removing weeds in the field;

  4. Early chemical regulation. Generally, mepiquat chloride is sprayed 1–2 times during the cotton seedling and bud stage, with a dosage of 15.0–37.5 g/ha. This technology can ensure stable and healthy growth of cotton plants during the seedling and bud stage, laying the foundation for building a high-yield population structure in the later growth stages;

  5. Early watering. Generally, large-scale drip irrigation of cotton fields starts in early June. However, for sandy cotton fields with poor water and fertilizer retention, due to its drought stress that occurs earlier, the first drip irrigation can be advanced to late May, to meet the cotton growth of water needs in the early stages, and thus ensure the formation of high-yield types and populations [27];

  6. Early fertilization. In drip-irrigated cotton fields, the precise water fertilizer integrated management strategy of “one water, one fertilizer” is followed. Specifically, fertilizer can be advanced to early June, or even late May, if one chooses “sowing under insufficient soil moisture”, drip irrigation is required to supply soil moisture after sowing, and the corresponding topdressing time will be even earlier. This technology effectively ensures balanced development of cotton plants by following the water and fertilizer requirements at different growth stages, while also improving the utilization efficiency of water and fertilizers [27];

  7. Early topping. Topping (removing the apical buds of cotton plants) in southern Xinjiang is generally completed before July 15, while in northern Xinjiang, the operation is usually carried out about 10 days earlier than in southern Xinjiang. Through timely topping, it can effectively inhibit apical dominance, reduce the production of ineffective buds, and then optimize the distribution of photosynthetic products to the cotton bolls to avoid the ineffective consumption of nutrients;

  8. Spray defoliant ripening agent at the appropriate time. The defoliant ripening agent spraying operation is usually completed in southern Xinjiang before September 25th, while northern Xinjiang usually completes it about 10 days earlier than southern Xinjiang. By grasping the optimal application period of defoliant ripening agents, the efficacy of the agents can be fully exerted to promote cotton leaf shedding and accelerate boll maturation, and ultimately to ensure a higher cotton mechanical picking rate and quality of cotton;

  9. Timely cessation of irrigation and early harvesting. Irrigation is generally stopped at the end of August, with centralized harvesting in October. By timely cutting off the water supply in the later stage of cotton growth, nutrients are promoted to be transported to the bolls, ensuring that boll opening is early, concentrated, and sufficient, thereby improving fiber maturity and quality [25];

  10. Early detection and early prevention. By advancing the prevention and control measures of pests, diseases, and weeds to the seedling stage or even before sowing, a comprehensive regional prevention and control system covering cotton fields and their surrounding environments is established. Combined with early warning of pests and diseases during the growth period, the threat to cotton production is minimized to the greatest extent possible, thus ensuring the stability of the cotton field ecosystem and high yield and high quality of cotton [18].

Dwarfing cultivation is another key link of the “early, short, dense” planting model for drip-irrigated cotton fields in Xinjiang. Among them, the height of land cotton plants is controlled at 75–85 cm, the internode length of the main stem is stable at around 6.7 cm, and the length of fruiting branches is maintained at 15–25 cm; the height of island cotton plants is maintained at 90–110 cm, the internode length of the main stem is about 6.0 cm, and the length of fruiting branches is 10–20 cm. Through precise dwarfing management, it can not only ensure good ventilation and light transmission conditions inside the cotton field but also meet the adaptation requirements of mechanized harvesting.

Dwarfing cultivation takes variety selection and systematic collaborative regulation as its core. In terms of variety selection, priority is given to cotton varieties with stable growth vigor, balanced vegetative and reproductive growth, and sensitivity to mepiquat chloride regulators, to ensure a genetic foundation for establishing plant dwarf populations. In terms of system regulation, the strategy of “taking water and fertilizer regulation as the main approach and chemical regulation as the supplementary” is clearly defined, and the details of the regulation plan are shown in sections 3.3 and 3.4. This can effectively prevent the risks of “high (excessive high plant style), large (excessively large canopy) and empty (sparse boll setting)” in the cotton field population [17].

Optimizing plant population density is an indispensable key strategy in the “early, short, and dense” planting mode in Xinjiang cotton region. The harvesting density should be controlled at 165,000–187,500 plants/hm2 in the southern Xinjiang cotton region, while the harvesting density should be controlled at 180,000–202,500 plants/hm2 in the northern Xinjiang cotton region, all of which have adopted a wide-narrow row planting pattern of 66 + 10 cm (or its derivatives) with an average row spacing of 38 cm. By establishing a high-density planting structure of “small individuals, large population”, the leaf area coefficient of cotton fields can reach a relatively high value earlier, thereby fully utilizing the early light and heat resources in the early stage, and creating favorable conditions for boll setting. This is the core of achieving breakthroughs in yield per unit area. To ensure a higher density of cotton fields, the following supporting measures must be implemented:

  1. Variety and density collaborative adaptation technology. Select dwarf varieties with compact plant shape, upward-pointing leaves, and moderate leaf area to ensure good ventilation and light transmission properties in high-density drip-irrigated cotton fields with a density of up to 202,500 plants/hm2. The density setting follows the principle of dynamic adjustment. Specifically, cotton fields with sandy soil, insufficient light and heat, insufficient water and fertilizer retention capacity, or limited water and fertilizer supply are suitable for high-density planting, on the contrary, the density should be appropriately reduced;

  2. High germination rate seed production technology. In response to the problem that the germination rate of conventional qualified seeds is only 80%, which is difficult to meet the needs of seedling preservation in cotton fields with precision sowing, the research and development proposes a high germination rate seed production process of “to be selected seeds → polishing → wind selection → gravity selection → color selection → magnetic selection → coating → packaging”. Among them, color selection can effectively remove immature yellow seeds, and magnetic selection uses a combination of 80–200 mesh iron powder and N35–N52 neodymium iron boron magnetic rollers to accurately remove crack seeds. Through the above process, the germination rate of the finished seeds is stably increased to about 90% [28];

  3. High-quality precise seeder. Compared with the commonly used air suction precision seeders at home and abroad, the self-developed socket mechanical seeder is selected, which not only significantly reduces the power consumption and maintenance costs, but also realizes higher seeding quality. Data show that the demonstration cotton fields using the socket mechanical seeder have an empty hole rate of ≤0.6%, a single seed qualification rate of ≥99.2%, the misalignment rate close to 0, and the seedling retention rate has stably exceeded 80% [29];

  4. System collaborative regulation technology. “Dense” using the same systematic collaborative regulation technology and “short”, which can effectively avoid the risk of population canopy closure in cotton fields through the strategy of “taking water and fertilizer regulation as the main approach and chemical regulation as the supplementary”.

In summary, the “early, short, and dense” planting mode in Xinjiang cotton region establishes a highly collaborative mutual promotion of symbiosis system. “early” is the core strategy, “short” and “dense” are necessary for “early“, while providing guarantee for “early”; “short” creates spatial conditions for “dense (high plant population density)” by shaping compact individual plants; “dense” relying on the advantages of plant population to make up for the limitations of individual plant development, effectively reducing the waste of light, heat, and water resources in the early growth stage of cotton. In response to the “early, short, and dense” planting mode, it is still necessary to adapt to local conditions in production practice, and deeply integrate management measures such as water and fertilizer management, chemical regulation, and plastic film mulching, to fully exert the production potential of this planting mode [24, 25].

3.2 Integrated management of pests, diseases, weeds, and natural disasters

3.2.1 Major pests prevention and control

3.2.1.1 Aphid

Source prevention and control: grasp the early spring prevention and control node, southern Xinjiang at the late March to early April, northern Xinjiang at the mid- to late April, uniformly spray 40% acetamiprid diluted 1500–2000 times on overwintering hosts such as flowers and greenhouse vegetables to reduce the base population of insects from the source.

Physical trapping: After the cotton seedlings emerge, hang yellow boards at the density of 600–750 pieces/hm2 for trapping.

Chemical and biological prevention and control: when the aphid plant rate in the field reaches 30–50%, the rolled leaf/oil-contaminated plant rate reaches 5–10%, and the population continues to rise, select selective insecticides such as flonicamid, pymetrozine, acetamiprid, imidacloprid, or plant-derived pesticides such as matrine and rotenone for spraying control [30].

3.2.1.2 Spider mite

Field cleaning and source control: removing weeds in and around the field to destroy the habitat and breeding grounds of cotton spider mites, thereby reducing the base population of pests from the source.

Hierarchical prevention and control: Adhere to the principle of “early detection and early prevention”, when the mite-infested plant rate is below 15% (in the stage of point piece occurrence), focus chemical control on center mite-infested plants; when the mite-infested plant rate exceeds 15%, whole field chemical control should be carried out. Select acaricides such as etoxazole, abamectin, spiromesifen, and pyridaben for spraying control [30].

3.2.1.3 Bollworm

Green prevention and control: timely carry out autumn plowing, winter irrigation, and field cleaning operations after the autumn harvest, to destroy the overwintering grounds of cotton bollworms and reduce the overwintering base number; plant baiting strips of corn and abutilon around the cotton field to trap cotton bollworms and clean up and eliminate the trapped pests in time; simultaneously installing frequency vibration solar insecticidal lamps and cotton bollworm traps to lure and kill cotton bollworms.

Chemical and biological prevention and control: priority is given to the use of biological pesticides such as cotton bollworm nucleopolyhedrovirus, Bacillus thuringiensis, and azadirachtin; high-efficiency and low-toxicity chemical agents such as chlorantraniliprole, lufenuron, indoxacarb, and hexaflumuron should be rationally selected for spraying control.

Seed source prevention and control: strengthening the cultivation and promotion of new varieties resistant to cotton bollworm [30].

3.2.2 Major diseases prevention and control

3.2.2.1 Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt

Chemical prevention and control: from seedling stage to bud stage, before or at the initial stage of disease occurrence, pesticides such as Bacillus subtilis, amino oligosaccharins, ethyl garlicin, hymexazol, and spinosad should be sprayed or drip irrigation should be used for prevention and control.

Crop rotation system: in response to the plots with serious fusarium wilt and verticillium wilt (disease incidence rate ≥ 30%), a crop rotation system should be implemented. Non-parasitic crops such as wheat, maize, tomatoes, sugar beet, melons, etc., should be selected for planting for 2–3 years, planting cotton again.

Seed source prevention and control: strengthening the cultivation and promotion of cotton varieties with high resistance (tolerance) to fusarium wilt and verticillium wilt [30].

3.2.2.2 Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium moniliforme

Seed coating: in response to the seedling diseases such as Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium moniliforme, the seed coating agents such as fludioxonil, metalaxyl-M, and azoxystrobin should be used for prevention and control.

Emergency prevention and control: at the early stage of the disease, especially during low temperature and rainy weather, pesticides such as Bacillus subtilis, polymyxin, and hymexazol should be sprayed timely for prevention and control.

Field management: sowing under suitable conditions of soil moisture and temperature; timely intertillage after sowing to improve soil temperature and soil aeration, and enhance the resilience of cotton seedlings [30].

3.2.3 Major weeds prevention and control

Chemical sealing: After the completion of soil preparation operation and before harrowing, 33% pendimethalin EC at a dosage of 2250–2700 mL/hm2 should be sprayed uniformly on the soil. In response to high incidence field of Solanum nigrum, 50% pargyline at a dosage of 1500–2250 g/ha or 42% fludioxonil at a dosage of 1500–2250 g/ha should be selected for soil sealing treatment.

Agronomic measures: during the seedling and bud stage, the intertillage operation should be carried out to remove weeds between the rows. For weeds that cannot be removed by intertillage, manually remove them. In addition, before harvesting cotton, it is necessary to thoroughly remove weeds in the field to prevent their seeds from maturing and falling into the cotton field, which would increase the difficulty of weed control in the following year and also prevents weed contamination of cotton during machine harvesting [17].

Seed source prevention and control: accelerating the cultivation and promotion of cotton varieties with herbicide-resistant property.

3.2.4 Major natural disasters prevention and control

3.2.4.1 Low-temperature frost disaster

Preventive measures: adjust the sowing period according to the local climatic conditions to avoid the frequent occurrence of low-temperature frost disasters.

Post-disaster management: if low-temperature freezing damage cannot be avoided, it is necessary to increase the application of foliar fertilizer in a timely manner after the disaster, and appropriately increase the frequency of intertillage to raise the soil temperature, and promote the recovery and growth of cotton plants [17].

3.2.4.2 Rain disaster during the seedling stage

For unplanted drip-irrigated cotton fields, the “planting row delayed soil covering” technology is adopted, which means not covering the planting rows with soil during sowing to avoid soil compaction after rain. When the cotton plants reach the two-leaf and one-apical bud to three-leaf and one-apical bud stage, specialized soil covering machinery will be used for precise soil covering of the planting rows (Figure 1) [31].

Figure 1.

The scene of the specialized soil covering machinery for “planting row delayed soil covering” operation.

3.2.4.3 Drought disaster

In response to the phenomenon of insufficient soil moisture or drought in cotton fields caused by incomplete irrigation before sowing when the suitable sowing period has arrived, a water supply strategy of sowing first and then using drip irrigation within 48 hours can be adopted.

3.2.4.4 Wind-sand hazard

Engineering protection: the outside of the cotton field adopts a grid (main forest belt combined with secondary forest belt), multi-species (trees, shrubs, herbs) strategy to strengthen the construction of windbreaks forest belts; the inside of the cotton field set up windproof soil pressure belts according to the change of the main wind direction, ensuring that they are perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction.

Agronomic measures: in response to the areas with high wind disaster-prone, the wheat-cotton simultaneous sowing technology can be promoted, utilizing the dwarf population formed by the rapid growth of wheat in the early stage to significantly reduce the damage of wind and sand to cotton seedlings (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Wheat-cotton simultaneous sowing technology.

3.2.4.5 Hail disaster

Relying on radar monitoring and intelligent warning platforms, artificial hail elimination operations should be carried out in a timely manner at the initial formation stage of hail cloud clusters.

In case of disaster, timely measures should be taken, including replanting or switching to other crops.

3.2.4.6 Early-frost during the late stage

Priority is given to cotton varieties with early maturing, and simultaneously implement cultivation measures to promote early maturity (the specific details are shown in Section 3.1).

3.2.4.7 Salt alkali disaster

Water conservancy salt discharge: carry out flood irrigation for salt washing before sowing and improve the field drainage system.

Soil improvement: carry out ultra-deep plowing (depth ≥ 40 cm) or ultra-deep tilling (depth ≥ 45 cm) once every 3 to 5 years. In areas where conditions permit, sand compaction measures can also be used to improve soil aggregate structure.

Biological improvement: Salt-tolerant green manure (such as sunflower) crop rotation; apply salt alkali-resistant microbial agents with drip irrigation water.

Chemical control: apply soil conditioners (humic acid-based or silicon-calcium-potassium-magnesium) with drip irrigation water.

Seed source prevention and control: strengthening the cultivation and promotion of cotton varieties with salt alkali-resistant property.

For the above-mentioned disasters: if the disaster occurs early, other extra-early-maturing cotton varieties can be planted according to soil moisture and nutrient conditions; if the disaster occurs late, alternative crops can be selected in a timely manner according to light and heat resources.

3.3 Mulched drip irrigation technology

The mulched drip irrigation technology is a deep combination of plastic film and mulching and drip irrigation systems. Its technical core lies in the coordinated layout of surface film mulching and drip irrigation tapes under film, achieving precise supply and efficient utilization of water and fertilizers; the technical advantage lies in the multiple effects of surface film covering, including increasing temperature and entropy preservation, suppressing salt and weed stress, promoting soil microbial activity. Practice has shown that the cotton fields using mulched drip irrigation technology achieve a 60% higher seedling survival rate compared with bare ground, while also accelerating the growth process and enabling the cotton flowering and boll-forming stages to highly coincide with the region’s abundant light, heat, and water resources.

In practical production applications, the promoted film widths include 125, 145, 205, and 440 cm, which can flexibly adapt to different planting modes such as one film with four rows, one film with six rows, and even one film with twelve rows, among which the 205 cm film width is the most widely used. In addition, in order to ensure the effective recycling of residual film and reduce plastic film residue pollution, the film thickness of 0.01 mm or even 0.015 mm is commonly used in production (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Application of mulched drip irrigation technology in Xinjiang cotton fields.

At present, the promotion and application area of mulched drip irrigation technology combined with plastic film covering technology has reached 1.86 million hectares. The mulched drip irrigation system starts with a water source project, regulates water and fertilizer through the headworks hub, transports them through the water distribution pipeline network, and finally infiltrates the root zone of cotton evenly, regularly, and quantitatively with water and fertilizers through drip emitters. The advantage of this technology lies in that it can maintain the soil in the local range of cotton roots in a loose state and with the optimal water and fertilizer supply, effectively reduce interplant evaporation and deep leakage, and inhibit weed growth, fully realizing the comprehensive benefits of water conservation, fertilizer conservation, and yield increase.

In practical production applications, Xinjiang cotton fields usually drip 8–12 times during the whole growth period, and sandy soil cotton fields can add 1–2 more times. The first irrigation is generally carried out in early June, and for some cotton fields with heavy sand content, it can be advanced to late May or even earlier; the irrigation termination period is determined based on soil moisture, climatic conditions, and cotton growth status, generally at the end of August to stop irrigation, while sandy soil fields and prematurely aging cotton fields can postpone it to around September 10th. Each time drip quota is controlled at 300–525 m3/ha, and total drip quota during the whole growth period is maintained at 2700–4200 m3/ha. Topdressing generally follows the principle of “one irrigation with one fertilization”, that is, when irrigating each time, N, P2O5, and K2O fertilizers are applied synchronously by dripping. The specific details can be referred to Table 3 [18, 27].

Growth stageDrip irrigation frequencyDrip irrigation date (month-day)Drip quota m3/haN (kg/ha)P2O5 (kg/ha)K2O (kg/ha)
Bud stageFirst time6–6 ~ 6–19300.0 ~ 525.018.0 ~ 22.57.5 ~ 15.0—
Second time6–20 ~ 6–28300.0 ~ 450.018.0 ~ 22.57.5 ~ 15.0—
Flowering and boll stageThird time6–29 ~ 7–6300.0 ~ 525.012.0 ~ 20.0——
Fourth time7–7 ~ 7–13300.0 ~ 525.012.0 ~ 20.0——
Fifth time7–14 ~ 7–21300.0 ~ 450.012.0 ~ 20.0——
Sixth time7–22 ~ 7–30300.0 ~ 450.012.0 ~ 20.0——
Seventh time8–1 ~ 8–9300.0 ~ 450.012.0 ~ 20.07.5 ~ 18.07.5 ~ 18.0
Eighth time8–10 ~ 8–17300.0 ~ 450.012.0 ~ 20.07.5 ~ 18.07.5 ~ 15.0
Boll opening stageNinth time8–18 ~ 8–29300.0 ~ 375.012.0 ~ 21.0——

Table 3.

Typical water and fertilizer management plan for drip irrigation cotton fields in Xinjiang.

Due to the mulched drip irrigation technology in Xinjiang being an agricultural irrigation system with extremely distinctive regional characteristics, it has remarkable differences from conventional drip irrigation systems at home and abroad. Its main technological innovation features are reflected in the following aspects:

  1. Technological integration innovation: combining film covering with drip irrigation system, relying on precision planter to complete the integrated operation of sowing, film laying, film pressing, and drip irrigation tape laying in one pass. For example, on a plastic film with a width of 205 cm, a drip irrigation tape layout of “two rows with one tape” is adopted, that is, planting six rows of cotton on the film, the film under the layout of three drip irrigation belts, which can be laid in the middle of the narrow rows (Figure 4) or on the side of the narrow rows (Figure 5).

  2. Drip irrigation system design: Drip irrigation tapes are disposable consumables without pressure compensation. Under standard pressure (0.1 MPa), the flow rate of inlaid patch-type drip emitters is 1.8–3.2 L/h, and the flow rate of the single-wing labyrinth-type drip emitters is 2.0–3.4 L/h. The system operates at low pressure (0.03–0.07 MPa), and the filtration system uses a limited combination of filtration requirements that is simple and inexpensive but meets production requirements. Specifically, the surface water is filtered using a “sedimentation tank + non-pressure self-cleaning mesh filter + mesh/stacked filter” filtration system; the groundwater is filtered using a “centrifugal mesh/stacked filter” filtration system, and combined with the irrigation mode of large branch pipe rotational irrigation. This drip irrigation system is simple, durable, and highly adaptable. It not only ensures a high yield of cotton, but also reduces the cost from 5500 $/ha for conventional drip irrigation systems to 1300 $/ha, significantly reducing equipment investment costs, which has the dual advantages of “reducing costs and increasing yield” [11, 27].

Figure 4.

Layout of cotton planting rows and drip irrigation belts (in the middle of narrow rows) on 205 cm plastic mulch.

Figure 5.

Layout of cotton planting rows and drip irrigation belts (on the middle of narrow rows) on 205 cm plastic mulch.

The mulched drip irrigation technology in Xinjiang also shows significant advantages in water regulation. For example, Xinjiang has long faced the problem of seasonal water shortages in spring, resulting in many cotton fields not being irrigated, which makes soil moisture unable to meet the conventional requirements before sowing. After years of technological research and development, for cotton fields that have not undergone winter irrigation or spring irrigation before sowing, a strategy has been proposed to complete key operations such as tillage, soil preparation, sowing, and drip irrigation within 3 to 6 days before the arrival of suitable sowing period. Among them, the use of a split-flow type soil preparation machine, instead of a conventionally combined soil preparation machine in the soil preparation process, can effectively prevent the occurrence of issues, such as poor field flatness, seeding misplacement, and uneven sowing depth due to low flatness and loose soil after cotton field preparation; completely avoid the emergence of the problems, such as tractor sinking during sowing, uneven seedling, and poor seedling retention. For cotton fields that have not undergone winter irrigation or spring irrigation before sowing, it is clearly specified to carry out 1 to 2 times drip irrigation operations with a drip application rate of 180–450 m3/ha after sowing. This strategy involves adjusting the large-quantity irrigation with a drip application rate of 1950–2475 m3/ha from mid-February to March 15 before sowing to 1–2 times small-quantity irrigation with a drip application rate of 180–450 m3/hm2 around April 10 after sowing. It is specified that water should be dripped after sowing, with a special requirement that waterlogging on the surface is strictly prohibited. The drip intervals should be controlled at 5–7 days, and advocate the application of 15–30 kg/ha of humic acid fertilizer or the appropriate amount of biological fungicide along with the drip. For cotton fields with heavy salt alkali, soil conditioner should also be applied along with the drip. This strategy not only takes advantage of the time allocation of water resources but also makes better use of the favorable conditions of rapid temperature rise in spring, significantly increases river water resources, ensures the soil moisture required for cotton seedling growth, and greatly saves water resources. Currently, this technology’s promotion and application area has exceeded 1 million hectares [32].

In addition, the mulched drip irrigation technology in Xinjiang can also effectively prevent and control the rain disaster during the seedling stage, that is, the “planting row delayed soil covering” technology is adopted, as detailed in the text given in Section 3.2.4.2 [31].

3.4 Population regulation technology

In the high-density and dwarfing planting mode of cotton fields in Xinjiang, improper population regulation and management can easily lead to field closure due to excessive cotton vegetative growth, or reduce yield due to inadequate construction of high-yield plant type. Therefore, after cotton emergence, on the basis of scientific implementation of water and fertilizer management, it is also necessary to fully utilize the chemical regulation effect of mepiquat chloride, that is, adhere to the strategy of “taking water and fertilizer regulation as the main approach and chemical regulation as the supplementary”, with water and fertilizer regulation strategy details described in the text given in Section 3.3 mulched drip irrigation technology. Chemical regulation with mepiquat chloride is generally carried out 4–7 times during the whole growth period, including 1–3 times during the seedling and bud stage, and 2–5 times during the flowering and boll stage (including chemical topping). Among them, the dosage of mepiquat chloride during the seedling stage is about 15.0 g/ha per time; the chemical regulation of bud stage is generally carried out before the first drip irrigation (at the full bud stage or 5–7 real leaf stage), with a dosage of 22.5–37.5 g/ha per time; around flowering stage, especially in vigorously growing cotton fields, chemical regulation is usually carried out about 1 week before flowering, with a dosage of 5.0–60.0 g/hm2 per time. If chemical regulation with mepiquat chloride is not carried out before flowering, it is generally carried out 2–5 days after the flowering stage in combination with drip irrigation, with a dosage of 45.0–67.5 g/hm2 per time. Notably, during the whole cotton growth period, if the early-stage regulation effect is insufficient, one additional chemical regulation can be flexibly added at any time, with the dosage increased by about 30% on the basis of the conventional dosage; if the cotton field shows weak growth, drought stress, or excessive regulation, the frequency and dosage of mepiquat chloride should be reduced in a timely manner, and even the spraying of mepiquat chloride should be stopped [9, 24]. Mepiquat chloride chemical topping technology has recently been widely applied in production. It is generally carried out on July 10th (full flowering stage) of the year, spraying 25% mepiquat chloride water emulsion at a dosage of 40–60 mL/ha, or 98% mepiquat chloride soluble powder at a dosage of 180–225 g/ha, and using liquid additive, which is conducive to the uniform adhesion and absorption of the agent, with a dosage of 150 mL/ha. To ensure the effect of mepiquat chloride chemical topping, 98% mepiquat chloride soluble powder is often sprayed 3–7 days before chemical topping at a dosage of 45–75 g/ha, and then 98% mepiquat chloride soluble powder is sprayed 5–10 days after chemical topping for severe chemical control at a dosage of 150–270 g/ha. In addition, for cotton fields with vigorous growth in early and middle of April, one additional mepiquat chloride chemical regulation should be applied 4–5 days before dripping, with a dosage of 150–240 g/hm2 [9].

3.5 Management techniques to match cotton machine harvesting

The mechanized cotton harvesting technology system in Xinjiang includes key links such as variety screening, plant spacing configuration, defoliation and ripening, cotton field preparation before harvesting, and mechanical harvesting. Each link has strict technical standard requirements, and the main contents are as follows:

3.5.1 Variety screening

Priority should be given to early maturity (with a growth period of about 125 days in southern Xinjiang and about 120 days in northern Xinjiang), high yield, and stress resistance; the distance between the lower opening boll and the ground is ≥18 cm; the plant type is moderately loose (to prevent cotton leaves from hanging branches); the upward-pointing leaves and leaf area of medium size; and the varieties are sensitive to defoliants. To ensure the quality of machine-harvested cotton, the fiber genetic quality indicators for selected upland cotton varieties should be as follows: 2.5% span length ≥ 30 mm, strength ≥30.0 cN/tex, uniformity ≥84.5%; the fiber genetic quality indicators for selected island cotton varieties should be as follows: 2.5% span length ≥ 37 mm, strength ≥45.0 cN/tex, uniformity ≥86.5%.

Based on the above-mentioned requirements, the recommended main upland cotton varieties in southern Xinjiang are Xinluzhong 84, Tahe 2, J206-5, Yuanmian 8, Xinta Cotton 3, J8031, etc.; the recommended main island cotton varieties are Xinhai 62, Xin 78, Changfeng 10, etc.; the recommended main upland cotton varieties in northern Xinjiang are Xinluzao 76, Xinluzao 78, Xinluzao 80, Xinluzao 84, H33-1-4, Jinken 1402, Zhongmian 113, F015-5, etc.; Northern Xinjiang is not suitable for planting island cotton varieties.

3.5.2 Plant spacing configuration

The current planting mode of cotton fields in Xinjiang includes two types of plant spacing configurations: Wide-narrow row spacing and equal row spacing. The details are as follows:

  1. Wide-narrow row mode takes 66 + 10 cm as the basic standard (narrow row width ≤ 12 cm, the sum of the width of wide and narrow rows is 76 cm), derived row configurations include multiple combinations such as 64 + 12 cm, 64.5 + 11.5 cm, 65 + 11 cm, and 72 + 4 cm. This mode adopts precision single seed sowing, with the theoretical density controlled at 240,00 to 277,500 plants/hm2.

  2. Equal row spacing mode features a fixed row spacing of 76 cm. This mode adopts precision single seed sowing, with a density controlled between 145,000 and 234,000 plants/hm2 [18].

3.5.3 Defoliation and ripening

The spraying time for defoliation and ripening should be determined based on the maturity status of cotton and climatic conditions. The defoliation and ripening promotion spraying should meet the following conditions: the natural opening rate of cotton fields should reach 40 to 50%; the upper cotton bolls should develop for 40 to 50 days; no rainfall within 24 hours after spraying; the minimum temperature stable at 10–15°C for 3 to 5 days, and the daily average temperature stable at 18–21°C for 7 to 10 days. The spraying operations for defoliation and ripening promotion are usually carried out from September 15 to 25 in southern Xinjiang, while they are carried out from September 5 to 15 in northern Xinjiang.

Selection and dosage determination of defoliation and ripening chemicals. When spraying with a tractor, use 54% (540 g/L) diuron thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 180–225 mL/hm2, combined with 40% ethephon water agent at a dosage of 1050–1500 mL/hm2; or use 50% thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 600–675 mL/hm2. Two applications are generally required when spraying with drones. For the first time, use 540 g/L diuron·thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 180–195 ml/hm2, combined with 40% ethephon water agent at a dosage of 1050–1500 mL/hm2; or use 50% thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 450–600 mL/hm2, combined with 50% dichlorvos powder at a dosage of 60–75 g/hm2, and 40% ethephon water agent at a dosage of 1050–1350 ml/hm2. For the second time, use 540 g/L diuron·thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 90–120 ml/hm2, combined with 40% ethephon water agent at a dosage of 600–900 ml/hm2; or use 50% thidiazuron suspension agent at a dosage of 300 ml/hm2, combined with 40% ethephon water agent at a dosage of 1050–1500 ml/hm2 [9, 33].

3.5.4 Preparation in the field before harvesting

In order to ensure smooth and high-quality mechanized harvesting operations, a comprehensive inspection and preparation of the cotton field and its surrounding environment are required [33]. The specific operations are as follows:

  1. Infrastructure inspection: ensure that the width of field roads and bridges is ≥4 m, the slope of roads and bridges is ≤30°, the height of overhead cables is ≥5 m, and remove obstacles or markings to ensure that cotton harvesting machinery can successfully avoid them.

  2. Field cleaning: do not carry out plastic film and drip irrigation tape recycling operations before harvest, but timely recycle the horizontal branch pipes in the field, and bury the residual film, drip irrigation head or tail exposed outside the cotton field surface with soil, with the burial depth controlled at 6.5–8.5 cm, while removing weeds and floating objects (fragments of plastic film and waste drip irrigation tapes) in advance. After harvesting, extract the drip irrigation tapes and recycle the residual films.

Field entrance handling: manually harvest the boll opening cotton in areas about 15 meters wide at both ends of the cotton field entrance and difficult for machinery to harvest, in advance, to reduce the loss rate during mechanical harvesting [33].

3.5.5 Mechanical harvesting operation standards

  1. Priority is given to six row self-propelled baler cotton harvests such as Boshiran, World Agricultural Machinery, Shandong Swan, and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, as well as John Deere’s CP770, CP690 cotton harvesters, and so on.

  2. Mechanical harvesting cotton fields must meet the following requirements: the defoliation rate ≥ 90%, the boll opening rate ≥ 95%; strictly prohibited from carrying out mechanical harvesting at night and at a time when the dew has not yet dried; harvesting time is recommended to be controlled between 12:00 and 21:00 daily. For some cotton areas in southern Xinjiang with relatively dry air, the harvesting time can be controlled in the day 11:30–24:00 daily.

  3. During the mechanical harvesting process, the operator must strictly follow the operation procedures to reduce the seed cotton bumping down and avoid leakage and repeated harvesting. Mechanical harvesting standards are as follows: the net harvesting rate is stable at 93–95%, the total loss rate is ≤5%, the impurity rate is ≤12%, the moisture regain rate of seed cotton is ≤12%, and the vehicle speed is 3.5–4.0 km/h [12, 15].

3.5.6 Supporting management standards

  1. Personnel configuration: operators of cotton harvesters and cotton transport vehicles must hold professional operating qualification certificates; reasonably configure the number of cotton transport vehicles based on factors such as the actual cotton field yield, transportation distance, and the work efficiency of cotton harvesters, four transport vehicles are generally allocated per cotton harvester.

  2. Fire safety: each cotton picker must be equipped with one full-time firefighter, and the harvesting site must be equipped with no less than six fire extinguishers (8 kg ammonium phosphate salt type), one water tanker with a capacity of ≥4 m3, and its supporting fire water pump; open flames are strictly prohibited within 100 meters of the harvesting operation area.

4. Conclusions

Since the twentieth century, the cotton planting area in the oases of Xinjiang has continued to expand. With the continuous improvement and promotion of planting technology, the unit yield and total production of cotton have continuously set new records. Xinjiang has become one of the most important cotton production areas in China and even the world.

At present, the level of cotton planting technology in Xinjiang has reached the forefront of the world, with some technologies reaching the international leading level. Specifically, cotton production in Xinjiang takes the “early, short, density” planting mode as a technological breakthrough, integrating key technologies such as comprehensive prevention and control of pests, diseases, weeds, and natural disasters, water-saving through mulched drip irrigation, and standardized management of machine-harvested cotton. These technologies not only lay a solid technical foundation for stable and high cotton yields but also fully demonstrate the concept of green development and the effectiveness of transforming scientific and technological achievements into practical productivity. Among them, the unique design of mulched drip irrigation technology is particularly suitable for oasis cotton areas with similar natural ecological conditions as Xinjiang. The enormous success of cotton production in Xinjiang’s oases is essentially the result of high-efficiency adaptation between technological innovation and natural resources. Due to continuous technological innovations and breakthroughs, on the one hand, it has effectively addressed the challenges of natural conditions in oasis areas such as high temperature, low temperature, drought, sandstorms, salt alkali, and poor water, heat, and soil resource; on the other hand, it has focused on fully exerting the advantages of Xinjiang’s resource endowment, achieving the coordinated development of high and stable cotton yield, high quality, simple, and efficient. This practice has not only become a model for modern cotton cultivation in global oases, providing a “China Xinjiang cotton cultivation application plan” for the sustainable development of global cotton, but also making important contributions to the development of cotton cultivation science.

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Written By

Liwen Tian, Feng Shi, Jianping Cui and Honghai Luo

Submitted: 24 May 2025 Reviewed: 03 June 2025 Published: 04 July 2025

© The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This content is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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