Mechanical cotton picking brings more efficiency, income for cotton farmer in Xinjiang (6)

Aerial photo shows Amar Aziz driving a cotton picker in a cotton field in Toyboldi Town of Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 24, 2021. Amar Aziz lives in Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, which is an important cotton-producing area in Xinjiang. His family has been planting cotton for more than 20 years. In the early years, cotton planting and picking mainly depended on manpower. In the cotton picking season, with more than a dozen pickers hired, it would take them three months to finish the work in 300 mu (20 hectares) of cotton fields. Nowadays, with the popularization of mechanization, the efficiency and income have been significantly improved. In 2020, Amar Aziz bought a cotton picker with a loan, and bought another one in partnership with friends. "Now most people will choose mechanical cotton picking," Amar Aziz said. Appointment for his cotton picking service has been scheduled for two weeks. In order to improve harvesting efficiency, he hired four drivers for each machine. Excluding the costs of fuel, maintenance and staff salaries, Amar Aziz estimates that his two cotton pickers can harvest about 8,000 mu (533 hectares) of cotton and earn him 800,000 yuan (125,040 dollars) this year. (Xinhua/Ma Kai)