How to grow cotton this year? A planting survey of cotton-producing areas across China

Anhui - Cotton planting area shows restorative growth

To understand the crop planting structure of farmers in Anhui Province this year, the Anhui Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics recently sampled 3220 farming households in 31 counties (districts) across the province to carry out a survey of farmers' crop intentions. The results show that the total sown area of crops in Anhui Province this year is basically stable, the area of grain crops continues to increase, the area of cash crops such as rapeseed and medicinal herbs has dropped sharply, and the area of other crops is basically flat.

In 2006, the 3220 farming households had 21257 mu of cultivated land and planned a crop planting area of 40223 mu, basically stable compared with last year. The planting structure ratio of grain crops, cash crops and other crops further shifted from last year's 79.85:19.32:0.83 to 81.53:17.64:0.83. Among them, the cotton planting area showed growth momentum and will reach 1978 mu, a real increase of 1.36% over last year. The main reason is that cotton prices rose sharply in 2005, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the previous year, causing the cotton planting area to show a restorative growth trend this year.

Gansu - Estimated cotton planting area of about 1.03 million mu

A comprehensive survey of 2006 planting intentions in all cities and prefectures of Gansu Province by the Gansu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry shows that this year the layout and structure of crops planted in Gansu Province are basically stable, with the grain area slightly decreasing amid stability, the area of cotton, vegetables and tobacco increasing, the area of oil crops decreasing, and sugar crop production basically stable. The obvious feature of farmers' crop planting arrangements is that they pay more attention to market demand, to reasonable structure, and to economic returns.

Among them, because the current price of cotton is relatively good, the planting area in Gansu Province is expected to increase steadily in 2006. From the situation surveyed in Dunhuang City, because the city's crops are

mainly cotton, long-term continuous cropping has caused the area affected by disease to keep increasing, and the planned planting area has been slightly reduced. In the whole city, 104 households plan to plant 657.32 mu of cotton, down 1.14% from the previous year, but the area in other cotton-growing counties and districts still maintains growth momentum.

According to planting intention survey statistics from the agriculture departments of relevant cities and prefectures, this year's crop planting trend in Gansu Province is basically consistent with the survey results for some farming households. The aggregated results show that: in 2006 the cotton area in Gansu Province will increase, and is expected to reach 1.029 million mu, up 6.9% from the previous year.

Hubei - Cotton sowing shows restorative small increase

Cotton market prices rose in 2005, and the comparative benefit of growing cotton was relatively high, which to a certain extent stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for growing cotton. However, because of the large year-to-year fluctuations in cotton prices in recent years, farmers in cotton areas have personally experienced the pressure of both natural and market risks, and they appear relatively rational about the 2006 cotton market trend, with no intention of greatly expanding the cotton planting area. A survey by relevant departments of 1894 farming households sampled from 148 townships (towns, farms) in 34 counties (cities, districts) in Hubei Province shows a preliminary arrangement of 9658.5 mu of cotton planting area this year, an increase of 247.1 mu over 2005, or 2.63%. According to analysis and prediction aggregated by the agriculture bureaus of 12 concentrated cotton-producing prefecture-level cities and province-directly-administered cities, this year's cotton planting area is about 5.8 million mu, an increase of about 9% over the harvested area in 2005, and only about 60% of the highest historical annual cotton planting area.