Hunan's Cotton Growth in Drought or Yield Cuts

The weather was sunny and hot for two consecutive months. The temperature in Hunan was mostly 28°C to 38°C, and the maximum temperature exceeded 40°C. No effective rainfall lasted for 45 days, causing serious drought in cotton fields.

The reporter recently learned from the Cotton Association of Hunan Province that the production of cotton in Changde and Yiyang in Hunan is basically stable, and it is expected that the harvest will be slightly reduced. This year, the cotton planting area in Lixian, Hunan is 306,000 mu, which is 14,000 mu less than last year's 320,000 mu, a decrease of 4%. This year, the cotton planting area in Yiyang City is 703,000 mu, a decrease of 0.67 million mu from 70.73 million mu last year, a decrease of 2%. . The current severe drought has already had a significant impact on cotton production. Most cotton transplants this year were 8 days to 15 days ahead of last year. The cotton crop was at a critical period. However, due to continued dry weather, the central cotton bolls were smaller than last year. Last year, bolls weighed 6.5 to 7 grams. Only about 6 grams. Some of the bells appeared to fall off, especially in the hilly areas and the three types of seedlings. The upper part of the cotton plants had very few flower bud bells, and the cotton leaves were yellowish. The cotton plants in some cotton fields also flowered and topped, showing signs of premature debility. If the drought can not be eased in the near future, it is expected that this year's cotton production will be reduced by 10% to 20%.

Drought has also had a major impact on cotton quality. Affected by the continued high temperature, cotton elongation was blocked, and the fiber length was only 27mm to 28mm, which was 1mm to 2mm shorter than last year. Due to the high temperature of sunny weather, cotton has no rotten peaches and no frozen petals. The color of cotton is better than in previous years, but the maturation and strength of the fiber are lower than in previous years.

In addition, cotton farmers' expectations for new cotton purchase prices rose slightly. Due to the increase in the cost of materialization and labor costs in cotton production, there is a state purchasing and storage policy to protect the bottom, and cotton farmers hope that the purchase price of seed cotton will be around 4.2 yuan/kg this year.