Cotton Association: Survey On Progress Of Cotton Planting Area In China

 

At the end of April 2023, the Cotton Farmers' Branch of China Cotton Association conducted a survey on the cotton planting area and cotton planting progress of 1781 designated farmers in 10 provinces and cities and Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The survey results show that the national cotton planting area is predicted to be 41.489 million mu in 2023, which is 69 thousand mu less than the survey at the end of March, down 5.2% year on year. Among them, the cotton planting area in Xinjiang was 37.25 million mu, decreasing by 69000 mu compared with the survey at the end of March, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%; The cotton planting area in the Yellow River basin was 2.225 million mu, 47000 mu less than the survey at the end of March, a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%; The cotton planting area in the Yangtze River basin was 1.759 million mu, an increase of 55000 mu compared with the survey at the end of March, a year-on-year decrease of 30%.

The overall progress of cotton planting this year was smooth, and the progress by the end of April was slightly slower than that of last year. Due to the unstable weather in Xinjiang, the progress of cotton planting was slow in the early stage, accelerated in the later stage, and basically ended at the end of April; The climate during the sowing period in the mainland was basically normal, and the progress was relatively smooth. As of April 30, the national cotton planting progress (including direct seeding and transplanting) was 96.6%, 2.5 percentage points slower than the previous year. If seedling raising and transplanting are adopted, the seeding progress is 96.3%, 2.2 percentage points slower than that of the previous year. 72.9% of the surveyed households used direct seeding, 27.1% of the surveyed households used seedling raising and transplanting, of which all in Xinjiang used direct seeding; The Yellow River basin is dominated by direct seeding, accounting for 82.8%, and 17.2% is sown by seedling raising and transplanting; In the Yangtze River basin, seedling cultivation, transplanting and sowing accounted for 87.6%, and direct seeding accounted for 12.4%.

As of April 30, the seeding progress in Xinjiang cotton region was 100%, unchanged year-on-year. Cotton planting in southern Xinjiang started around April 5, and in northern Xinjiang around April 15. This year, Xinjiang experienced the coldest April in nearly 20 years. Disastrous weather such as low temperature, cold wave, strong wind, sand storm and so on occurred from time to time. The progress in the first half of the month was significantly slower than last year, and the second half of the month was accelerated. By the end of April, the sowing work in Xinjiang had basically ended. In some areas, the cotton fields were affected by the cold wave, rain, snow, wind and sand weather, and the seedling rate was low, with 30% replanting. The cotton growth and development process was delayed by 6-10 days on average over the years. Farmers have taken timely disaster relief measures to speed up replanting and resume production. The survey shows that the predicted cotton planting area in Xinjiang is 37.25 million mu, down 1.6% year on year and 69000 mu less than the intended area in March, mainly because some farmers have changed to corn, tomatoes, potatoes and other crops.

The sowing date of cotton areas in the Yellow River basin is concentrated around April 20-25. Rainfall generally occurs during cotton sowing, and the progress is generally smooth. A small number of cotton farmers delayed sowing or switched to summer sowing because of heavy rainfall. At the end of the month, most cotton fields have begun to sprout. As of April 30, the seeding (planting) progress in this basin was 92.3%, 4.6 percentage points slower than that of the previous year. If seedling raising, transplanting and sowing are adopted, seedling raising has been completed. Due to heavy rainfall at the end of the month, transplanting was delayed in some areas of southwest Shandong and Henan. The survey shows that the predicted cotton planting area in this basin is 2.225 million mu, a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%, and 47000 mu less than the survey at the end of March.

As of April 30, the sowing (planting) progress of cotton in the Yangtze River Basin was 28.8%, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the previous year; If seedling raising and transplanting are adopted, the sowing progress is 95.4%, 2.8 percentage points slower than the same period last year. In Anhui Province, part of the seedling raising is delayed, and rape can be transplanted only after it is mature. The survey shows that the predicted area of cotton planting in this basin is 1.759 million mu, a year-on-year decrease of 37.8%, and an increase of 55000 mu compared with the survey at the end of March. This is mainly because most of the survey households in Hunan Province have decided to continue to plant cotton, which increases the predicted area of this province by 73000 mu compared with the survey at the end of March.