This year is the first time that cotton farmer Reheyimu·Reheman “opened” the cotton seeder. Five years ago, “I said I was ‘turning on’ the cotton seeder. In fact, when the seeder equipped with the Beidou navigation automatic driving system was sowing cotton, it would sow seeds in a straight line according to the set route. I didn’t have to hold the steering wheel with my hands. You don’t need to sit in the cab, the seeder will sow normally.”
On the afternoon of the 14th, Reheyimu Reheman “turned on” a cotton seeder and shuttled back and forth in the high-standard farmland in Baishtup Village, Anakul Township, Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang. When planting cotton seeds, drip irrigation tapes will also be laid and covered with plastic films… The cotton in this farmland will be “dry sown and wet out”. This technology has been promoted and used in Bachu County since 2020. It not only effectively saves water, but also It also effectively increases the seedling emergence rate, and has the effect of neat, strong and even seedlings.
Bachu is located at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the northwest edge of the Taklimakan Desert. County is the “East Gate” of Kashgar Prefecture and a famous cotton planting county in Xinjiang, with a stable cotton area of about 1.1 million acres. In recent years, Bachu County has actively promoted Beidou navigation unmanned seeding, drone plant protection, mechanized harvesting and other technologies, and integrated the use of high-density cultivation, precision seeding, water and fertilizer integration and other measures, and the quality and yield of cotton have continued to improve.
Cotton farmer Abdusalamu Wufur Nearly 200 acres of cotton were planted this year, and all were sown on the 13th. “When I was a child, my parents used oxen to plow the land to grow cotton. At that time, my parents could only farm 30 acres of land, and they were very tired. I used to drive a small four-wheel tractor to grow cotton. Now, I have more than 190 acres of land. In farmland, there are large-scale automated seeders. As long as you prepare drip irrigation tapes, mulch films, seeds, etc., the sowing will be completed soon, which saves worry, effort, and money. Moreover, mechanical sowing will make the cotton (quality) better. ”
According to reports, local cotton sowing in the past was done in order to sow seeds. It is necessary to insert stakes and lay lines, and the driver must be “forward-looking” and “backward-looking” when operating the machinery. Now the Beidou satellite navigation automatic driving system is used to mechanize sowing, laying mulch, and laying drip irrigation tape throughout the process, which improves sowing accuracy.
Guniqi, a cotton farmer in Duolaitibag Township, Bachu County Guli Rehemu also said: “In the past, manual sowing was used, and the mulch film was curved after broadcasting. Since the Beidou navigation system was used, the seeder is like having ‘eyes’ and drives automatically according to the set route. Complete the tasks of laying film, laying drip irrigation tape, sowing, covering soil and other tasks in one go.”
According to Ma Zhenglu, head of the Huize Farmers Planting Professional Cooperative in Bachu County, cotton planting has now been fully mechanized, including later management, picking and other aspects. In particular, cotton sowing is mechanized and precise sowing can effectively control the uniform spacing of cotton plants. As a light-loving crop, sufficient sunlight is an important condition for high yield and improved quality of cotton.
In addition, in Abdulsalam Wufur The cotton fields are surrounded by large areas of strip fields, which are very suitable for large-scale agricultural machinery operations. According to a reporter from China News Service, in the past, a small area of field owned by a cotton farmer was very unfavorable for mechanized operations. Now it has been integrated into a large field without borders. Cotton planting and picking have been mechanized and production efficiency has been improved. .
At present, the cotton sowing work on 5.5 million acres in Kashgar has entered its peak period. A total of 3,749 seeders are equipped with the Beidou navigation automatic driving system, and mechanical sowing has reached 100%. It is expected that All sowing can be completed in late April. “Hard-core technologies” such as Beidou navigation, high-standard farmland, and water and fertilizer integration allow Kashgar to grow the “most beautiful flowers.”
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