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What are the advantages and disadvantages of mechanical cotton sowing?

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In recent years, cotton sowing in Ninghe County has consistently remained at around 300,000 mu, accounting for more than 50% of the cultivated land area. Since the introduction of trial demonstration of mechanical sowing technology in 2002, the promoted area has reached more than 70% this year, injecting new vitality into cotton production in Ninghe County. The main approach is: first carry out mechanical winter plowing or spring irrigation, prepare the land before sowing to preserve soil moisture, level it with a roller, then spray herbicide on the surface, and then sow with a seeder: furrowing, fertilizing, sowing, covering soil, and mulching film, in a continuous flow operation,

In recent years, cotton sowing in Ninghe County has consistently remained at around 300,000 mu, accounting for more than 50% of the cultivated land area. Since the introduction of trial demonstration of mechanical sowing technology in 2002, the promoted area has reached more than 70% this year, injecting new vitality into cotton production in Ninghe County.

The main approach is: first carry out mechanical winter plowing or spring irrigation, prepare the land before sowing to preserve soil moisture, level it with a roller, then spray herbicide on the surface, and then sow with a seeder: furrowing, fertilizing, sowing, covering soil, and mulching film, in a continuous flow operation, completed in one pass (the seed must be delinted seed).

Based on our investigation and experience, mechanical sowing mainly has the following benefits:

1. Since the trial application rates of seed and chemical fertilizer can be regulated, it achieves uniform sowing and fertilizing, with fast speed and good quality;

2. It saves labor and reduces labor intensity: one seeder pulled by a walking tractor, with three people working (including the operator), can sow more than 20 mu per day, which is 15 times that of manual covering and sowing. Especially for contiguous operations, the sowing efficiency is even higher, making it very suitable for promotion and application by farmers with larger sowing areas and insufficient labor, as well as large contracting households.

This year, through our in-depth investigation of mechanically sown plots during the cotton emergence stage, we also found an unfavorable aspect: wherever the ground is uneven and soil moisture is insufficient, the emergence of seedlings is incomplete and uneven. The problem is: adopting mechanical sowing requires mechanical sowing, and winter irrigation or spring irrigation to build up soil moisture in advance. However, in our county in recent years, most fields have been rotary tilled with shallow plow layers, small field water-holding capacity, poor moisture conservation effect, and short duration, making it difficult to sow with sufficient soil moisture within the suitable period. Therefore, in uneven plots with high and low spots, it is difficult to achieve full seedling emergence, and gaps with missing seedlings occur.

In summary, we believe that: the advantages of adopting mechanical sowing outweigh the disadvantages. As long as the subsoil moisture is sufficient and sowing quality is ensured, a full stand of seedlings can be obtained in a single sowing.

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