How to "easy" cotton planting is achieved
-Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' full mechanization investigation, reporter Ma Chengzhong
A reporter from the Economic Daily conducted an in-depth interview in Xinjiang recently and found that behind the good cotton harvest, there is an exciting change: in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the cotton planting has already ended the "hard work" of hand-held farming, and the "easy" of all kinds of agricultural machinery taking turns to battle. The mode is turning on.
Statistics show that the current comprehensive mechanization level of cotton farming and harvesting in the Corps has reached 98.3%. How did this change happen?
National cotton looks at Xinjiang, Xinjiang cotton looks at XPCC.
In 2021, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps cotton planting area will reach 13.05 million mu, and the machine-harvested area will be 12.3 million mu.
It produces more than one-third of the country's cotton with a quarter of the country's area. The XPCC cotton not only has obvious advantages in quality, but also maintains a high level of mechanization, large-scale, water-saving irrigation, and scientific and technological support.
At present, the comprehensive mechanization level of cotton cultivation and harvesting of the Corps has reached 98.3%, and the mechanical recovery rate has reached 94.2%.
How did they realize the full mechanization of cotton operations?
What are the implications for the promotion of full mechanization of other crops?
A reporter from the Economic Daily went deep into the fields to find out.
Smooth agricultural machinery application system
Abibra Yasheng is 36 years old this year and is an employee of the 49th Regiment of Tumushuk City, the Third Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
He planted 80 acres of cotton land and just returned home to rest after paying the cotton money from a nearby ginning factory.
"Unexpectedly, planting cotton also has free time for drinking tea." For Abibra, who has grown cotton for 15 years, he was so busy during the cotton picking season that he just wanted to sleep when he returned home.
"In the past, manual harvesting of more than 20 acres of cotton had to be busy from mid-September to the end of the year." The cotton picking season was once the most troublesome time for Abibra, because the labor force was very tight, and sometimes he had to hire a car to hire in the county hundreds of kilometers away. The cotton pickers helped pick them, "Send them to the ground in the morning and pull them back to their place in the evening. Late at night, I have to manually load the cotton that I picked during the day to the ginning factory, which is too exhausting."
Abibra recalled that the cost of manual harvesting was very high at that time, with an acre of land costing more than 700 yuan.
"How can a machine be better than a human?" A few years ago, Abbybull heard that a nearby company was picking cotton from an experimental machine, so he made a special trip to see the effect.
"One plant of cotton passes through the cotton picker to produce cotton. It is fast and labor-saving, but there are a lot of cotton stalks and leaves." The higher cotton content rate makes Abibra worried.
With the continuous improvement of the technological level, the machine picking cotton finally entered thousands of households.
“This year’s 80 acres of cotton land will be harvested by the cotton picker in just 3 hours. The purchase price of the cotton gin plant is 10.5 yuan per kilogram, and the yield is about 350 kilograms per mu. The machine harvesting fee is 200 yuan per mu. Cost, income of 280,000 yuan.” This day was the second time Abibra went to the ginning factory to send cotton. “Today I hand-picked some cotton that cannot be picked by the cotton picker. There are 300 kilograms, and the income can be more than 3,000 yuan.” .
Nowadays, when it comes to cotton planting, Abibra bluntly says "easy", "The whole process of ploughing, planting, fertilizing, picking, and recycling of residual film can be mechanized, and there are corresponding technical specifications for different stages of field management."
Apart from rest, he has contacted the agricultural machinery to carry out operations such as straw crushing and residual film recovery in the field.
Thanks to the XPCC's long-term promotion of the development of cotton mechanization, planting cotton as "easy" as Abibra is becoming the norm for XPCC employees.
"The cotton market this year is good, and the employees are very motivated to pick. We have more than 13 million acres of cotton land. The mechanical picking can be completed in more than one month." Realize the mechanization of the whole farming and harvesting process."
"Starting from the actual production needs of employees, the XPCC has long adhered to the construction of a comprehensive agricultural machinery production, education, research and promotion system. The popularization and application of Beidou navigation automatic driving technology has realized the development of mechanization and information integration of cotton production; demonstration and promotion of domestic high-performance high-horsepower tractor supporting plow , High-end agricultural machinery and equipment such as domestically produced six-line baling cotton pickers provide powerful technical equipment support for the development of mechanization, informationization and intelligentization of cotton production in the Corps.” When it comes to the mechanization of cotton planting in the Corps, Ma is as precious as many.
At the same time, the XPCC also paid attention to the simultaneous improvement of cotton planting agricultural machinery and agronomy.
"The higher the degree of agricultural mechanization, the higher the requirements for seeds." Xinjiang Qianhai Seed Industry Co., Ltd. is located in Tumushuke City. General Manager Liu Cheng told reporters: "When the Corps first planted cotton, it used multiple seeds in one hole. In the dense planting mode, the germination rate of cotton seeds is 60%, and one acre of land requires five or six kilograms of seeds. With the promotion of sophisticated planting and mechanical harvesting of cotton, one hole and one seed are used, and the demand for cotton seeds per acre has dropped to about 1.5 kg. According to reports, the national standard cotton seed germination rate is 80%. They have increased the cotton seed germination rate to more than 92% by increasing the selection links such as gravity selection, winnowing and magnetic selection.
Through the selection of high-quality cotton varieties and farmer's field agronomic cultivation, they keep the height of the cotton plant between 70 cm and 80 cm, and the first fruiting branch is more than 20 cm above the ground, which is more suitable for mechanical cotton harvesting.
The development of cotton seeds reflects the development and changes of cotton planting mechanization in the Corps.
After more than 20 years of introduction, experimentation, demonstration, and promotion, the XPCC has formed a series of standards, norms and technical regulations in many key links such as cotton variety cultivation, agronomic cultivation measures, field production management, residual film pollution control, and cleaning and processing. Significantly.
Accelerating the localization of agricultural machinery
The cotton picking machine is one of the equipment with the highest "gold content" in the field of agricultural machinery. Before 2018, the large cotton picking machine used in China was the world of imported products.
In order to make up for this shortcoming, the XPCC has deployed a cotton picking machine industrial chain in the main cotton production area, and has cultivated relatively complete cotton in Wujiaqu City of the Sixth Division, Shihezi City of the Eighth Division, and Alar City of the First Division. Industrial farming and harvesting agricultural machinery production system.
In the severe winter, Xinjiang Swan Agricultural Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., which entered the Wujiaqu North Industrial Park of the Sixth Division, saw a busy area: the robotic arm was flipping and dancing, and the workers were processing various cotton picker parts in the welding sparks.
"Some are busy this winter!" Duan Qisen, the company's sales general manager and engineer, told reporters happily: "This year not only achieved a good sales of 90 cotton pickers, but also received nearly 200 orders for various cotton pickers."
Not far from the old plant, a new plant with an investment of 1 billion yuan and an area of 20,000 square meters is being expanded.
"This is a fully automated flexible production line built in accordance with the standards for the production of automobiles, specifically for the production of cotton pickers. After it is put into operation at the end of December, it is expected to produce 300 cotton pickers a year." Duan Qisen said, "It can produce nationally produced cotton pickers. I am very proud!"
Shandong Swan Cotton Industry Machinery Co., Ltd. initially saw the good momentum of Xinjiang's cotton industry.
In 2005, the company established Xinjiang Swan Agricultural Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. to provide support for the upgrading and transformation of cotton ginning processing equipment for the Corps and local governments.
At present, they have a market share of more than 80% in Xinjiang ginning equipment.
"The transformation and upgrading of the cotton ginning production line has gone through the process from manual cotton picking to mechanical cotton picking." Duan Qisen said, "With the continuous increase of machine-picked cotton in Xinjiang, we have developed corresponding leaf cleaning, stalk cleaning, and husk cleaning. Equipment. Today, our intelligent large-scale ginning equipment has reached international standards in terms of slag content and moisture control in processed cotton."
At the same time, they have also accelerated the pace of localized R&D and production of cotton pickers, and started the research and development of domestic three-row box cotton pickers.
"For a cotton picking machine weighing 30 tons, multiple links from operating procedures, hydraulic and electrical components to picking ingots and other components need to be overcome. However, subject to the domestic production level at that time, it could only move forward step by step." Duan Qisen Said, “In the research and development of head-picking ingots, it took nearly 10 years to realize domestic production in China. After localization, the price of cotton machine-picking spindles, which used to be imported for more than 100 yuan, fell to less than 20 yuan.” Through continuous and vigorous investment, In 2017, the three-row box cotton picker developed by the company went on the market in batches; subsequently, it continued to invest in the research and development of six-row bale cotton pickers.
"The six-row baling cotton picker is the third technological innovation, moving from mechanization to informationization and intelligence. Its navigation operation makes the driver easier, and the cotton box is automatically packed after the pressure reaches more than 2 tons, which reduces the cotton content. This makes the domestic cotton picker's net picking rate, continuous operation, and packaging storage capabilities comparable to foreign imported machines.” Duan Qisen said that at present, the localization rate of cotton picker equipment has reached more than 90%, and the price advantage is even more obvious.
Taking the six-row bale cotton picker as an example, the price of similar imported cotton pickers is more than 7 million yuan, and the price of domestic machines is more than 4.5 million yuan. After agricultural machinery subsidies, farmers only need to pay more than 3.9 million yuan.
In addition to Xinjiang Swan Agricultural Machinery, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Xinjiang Co., Ltd., Xinjiang Bo Shiran Agricultural Machinery Technology Co., Ltd. and other domestic cotton picking machine manufacturers have also settled in Xinjiang.
After the domestic cotton picker "repairs the chain", the XPCC has traditional advantages in plowing, planting, and recycling of residual film and other machinery and equipment manufacturing enterprises have also entered the "fast lane" of product upgrading.
At Xinchangsheng Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. in Shihezi City, General Manager Ma Yongping is learning about the feedback from farmers who use the latest straw residual film recovery machine. “The company invested more than 7 million yuan in research and development of residual film recovery machines. Thirty machines are used in Xinjiang cotton fields. In the early stage, farmers reported that the residual film entanglement caused failures. We improved the process to reduce the failure rate. The next step is to work hard on a stable structure, so that the growers can rest assured."
This company first started with the development of cotton planters.
"In the beginning, cotton was planted without filming, and there were many seeds in one hole. Later, mulching film and drip irrigation tape were added to achieve excellent seeding in one hole. Now, the planter has developed to the tenth generation, and it has realized the application of mulching film, finishing film bed, Sophisticated seeding, suppression and other processes are completed at one time. Today, the latest 3-film 18-row planter can operate 200 acres of land a day." Ma Yongping said.
In order to keep up with the development of cotton planting mechanization, they have spent 4% of their annual sales for 5 years-more than 5 million yuan, carried out product research and development, and obtained more than 60 patents.
At present, they can produce a series of agricultural machinery products such as precision film-laying planters, air suction film-laying planters, combined soil preparation machines, and residual film recovery machines, and realize the export of products.
Baotuan continues to develop and innovate
"The three carts of urea that have just arrived have been delivered to the members. The next step is to pay attention to the price of cotton seeds so that members can get more benefits in time." Zhou Runzheng, head of the Hongxingxiang Planting Professional Cooperative, Beiquan Town, Shihezi General Field, Shihezi City, Eighth Division Busy to contact to buy agricultural materials for cotton planting next year.
"After the reform of the group farm, employees have more autonomy in agricultural production and their interests are more protected. Under the conditions of a market economy, if you want to take advantage of the cotton machinery planting advantages, employees will benefit from group development." January 2018 Zhou Run established the first agro-industrial cooperative organized by employees in Beiquan Town. There are currently 523 households with more than 180 agricultural machinery and 54700 acres of arable land.
Zhou Run told reporters that after employees spontaneously enter the cooperative, the land is still contracted by the employees. The cooperative purchases agricultural materials uniformly through marketization, provides agricultural machinery services uniformly, and encourages everyone to grow cotton in a standardized manner.
This year, compared with ordinary employees, members have saved more than 70 yuan per mu in agricultural materials and agricultural machinery operations.
In addition, after the unification of cotton seeds, the quality of cotton was improved, and their cotton was sold at 0.2 yuan per kilogram higher than the market price.
Last year, they also set up a ginning factory to form an "enterprise + cooperative + farmer" operation model and an integrated industrial chain of "production, processing, and sales", benefiting employees.
In order to promote the increase of employees' income and wealth, the XPCC implemented a series of comprehensive reforms of the regiment field.
Under the conditions of the market economy, the employees developed in groups, which led to the rise of farmer cooperatives.
In order to support the development of the company’s agricultural machinery cooperatives in the eighteenth company of the 44th Regiment of the Third Division, they invested more than 1.4 million yuan as a development fund to lend to employees with agricultural machinery driving skills and willingness to purchase agricultural machinery.
At present, they have 10 high-horsepower tractors, planters, sprayers and other agricultural equipment, and they are the first choice for local employees to purchase agricultural machinery services.
Agricultural machinery manufacturing enterprises also pay more attention to technical transformation and after-sales service of agricultural machinery.
"Nowadays, when manufacturing agricultural machinery, more consideration should be given to the needs of farmers." Ma Yong, a technician from Shihezi Xinchangsheng Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., told reporters that in 2018, farmers discovered that in cotton planting, there is no soil covering on the seed line, which has advantages such as cotton seedling emergence. .
Based on feedback from farmers, they spent two years improving the production of side-covering planters for seeding rows, promoting and selling more than 3,000 units in total, and obtained 12 technical patents.
In 2020, this technology will receive a 600,000 yuan project subsidy from the Corps.
Every year during spring plowing, they will send 70% of their employees to the fields to provide guidance and help farmers make good use of their machinery.
"Large-scale, intensified, and efficient is the development trend of modern agriculture." Tang Zhihui, director of the Institute of Mechanical Equipment of Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, suggested that the industrial advantages brought by the development of cotton mechanization should be consolidated and improved, and the training of employees to become professional farmers should be increased. To adapt to the cotton industry’s development from mechanization to informatization and intelligence, it is necessary to consolidate and improve the operational capabilities of the existing agricultural machinery mechanization system, guide and support enterprises to accelerate the transformation to precision, informatization, and intelligence; also guide and support the standardized development of farmer cooperatives, Adhere to the development concept of Baotuan, accurately connect with cotton processing enterprises, form a community of interests, and improve the market competitiveness of the cotton industry of the XPCC.