Cotton, also called cotton fiber, is a kind of plant seed fiber. The flowers of cotton are milky white, they turn to dark red soon after flowering and then wither, leaving behind small green capsules (cotton bolls). There are cotton seeds in the bolls. The hairs on the cotton seeds grow from the epidermis of cotton seeds and fill the inside of cotton bolls . , Until it matures and cracks to reveal the soft fibers, this is the cotton we usually see.
China, the United States, India, Uzbekistan, Egypt and other countries are the main producing areas of cotton. The highest yields are China, the United States, and India. Among them, India has the largest planting area and China has the highest yield.
Xinjiang has a long history of cotton planting, which can be traced back to 1950. Through unremitting efforts, the XPCC people finally created a miracle in the "Forbidden Area for Cotton Planting" by agricultural experts and planted the first cotton field. Through the joint efforts of the Chinese people and agricultural experts, Xinjiang’s cotton has developed rapidly through decades of exploration, technological innovation, and variety improvement.
While the cotton planting area in Xinjiang continues to expand, the planting technology is constantly upgraded, and the yield and quality are constantly improving. In 2020/2021, my country's cotton output is about 5.95 million tons, of which Xinjiang cotton output is 5.2 million tons. As the main producing area of my country's cotton, Xinjiang has been the country's largest producer for 26 consecutive years! Therefore, there has always been a saying that "Chinese cotton looks at Xinjiang".
Xinjiang long-staple cotton is warm, breathable and comfortable. Whether it is used for clothes or quilts, the quality is the world's top. Therefore, it is well received by people, and the supply exceeds demand all the year round.
Once upon a time, the cultivation of cotton in Xinjiang also drove the employment of a large number of inland laborers. In the cotton harvest season, cotton pickers came to Xinjiang from the inland one after another. While the cotton was harvested, the workers also received considerable labor returns. Nowadays, Xinjiang cotton has been mechanized from planting to harvesting. Machine-picking cotton is not only more efficient, but also of better quality. The efficiency of a cotton picking machine even exceeds 500 manual cotton picking, and the net picking rate has reached 93%. While the cost of planting cotton is reduced, the income of cotton farmers is also higher.
my country is the main producer of cotton, and it is also the world's largest cotton consumer. The cotton consumed is mainly Xinjiang cotton with large yield and high quality, which accounts for more than 60% of the total. It is no exaggeration to say that Xinjiang cotton has supported the development of China's textile industry.
According to data, from May 2020, my country's orders for fabrics, textile raw materials, clothing, etc. have all increased significantly. In 2020, my country's textile and apparel exports have reached more than 290 billion US dollars, a cumulative increase of 9.5%. Behind the Chinese textile industry is the strong support of Xinjiang cotton, but my country's self-produced cotton still cannot meet the needs of my country's textile industry, so my country still needs to import about 2 million tons of cotton every year.
