The key to upgrading the cotton industry lies in the research and development of improved varieties
On August 21, the China Cotton Production Development Seminar was held in **Luntai County. The theme of the conference was “improving quality, saving costs and increasing efficiency.” It was hosted by the Cotton Grower Cooperation Branch of the China Cotton Association and the Cotton Committee of the China Agricultural Technology Association, and organized by Guoxin Rural Technical Service Association and **Guoxin Seed Industry. Officials from relevant departments of relevant ministries and commissions, the **Uygur Autonomous Region, and the **Production and Construction Corps attended the meeting to participate in discussions. Experts and professors from research institutes such as China Agricultural University, Huazhong Agricultural University, Hebei Agricultural University, and the **Academy of Agricultural Sciences, as well as more than 150 cotton grower representatives from the country's three major cotton regions, gathered together to jointly discuss new ideas for cotton production under the new situation.
Experts at the meeting believed that under the new situation, China's cotton production faces challenges in variety improvement, mechanization, precision, and standardization, among which R&D of improved varieties is the key to the next step in upgrading China's cotton production.
Zhou Shengtao, former Party Secretary of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and former President of the China Cotton Association, said at the meeting that in recent years, the contribution rate of science and technology in agricultural production has become increasingly large, and the scientific and technological content of agricultural production has also gradually increased, but our investment in agricultural science and technology and the promotion of achievements are still insufficient. In cotton production, the seed issue is the top priority. The R&D of improved varieties is a basic R&D undertaking with a very high scientific and technological content. It is innovation, and even a revolution.
Without a significant increase in arable land area, China has achieved basic self-sufficiency in grain, with output steadily increasing. Agricultural science and technology, especially the improvement of seeds, played a crucial role. In recent years, cotton seed R&D has also made great progress. In particular, genetically modified cotton seeds have solved the problem of cotton diseases and insect pests and increased per-unit cotton yields. However, if cotton is to achieve high yield and high quality, it is still necessary to continue to deepen and fully develop the work on seeds.
Zhou Shengtao said that Guoxin Seed Industry's move into ** is a far-sighted measure. Guoxin did not copy the “short, dense, early” experience of the inland areas or **, but instead proposed the breeding goal of “high yield, high quality, disease resistance, and suitability for mechanical harvesting,” focusing on solving cultivation techniques for saving costs and increasing efficiency. Through the application of new technologies such as chemical regulation, defoliation, and pest control, it maximizes the mechanization of cotton planting, and the effect of increasing production and income is very obvious.
Guoxin Seed Industry aids Xinjiang through industry, and has a positive effect on doing a good job in targeted poverty alleviation and targeted poverty eradication in southern Xinjiang, helping farmers increase income, promoting farmer employment, tapping the internal potential of agriculture, promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and advancing **'s agricultural structural adjustment in accordance with local conditions.
** is rich in water, soil, light, and heat resources, providing good conditions for cotton growth that other cotton regions in China cannot match. At present, **'s cotton output has accounted for nearly two-thirds of the national total. The pattern of “the world's cotton situation depends on China, and China's cotton market depends on **” is gradually taking shape.