Filmless cotton declares war on white pollution

Not long ago, the film-free cotton on-site observation and discussion exchange activities were held in the beautiful area of ​​Shaya County, Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Yu Shuxun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and more than 100 experts and scholars from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the relevant agriculture-related universities across the country gathered in Shaya to observe and exchange ideas on non-membrane cotton planting techniques.

In order to solve the harm caused by harsh natural conditions such as drought and cold, in the 1980s, Xinjiang began to promote film-covering cultivation technology on cotton, which played an active role in developing agricultural production and increasing farmers' income.

However, due to the continuous use of the film, the residual film recovery rate is low, the residual film volume in the soil is gradually increased, resulting in a series of problems such as the destruction of soil structure, the decline of cultivated land quality , and crop yield reduction, which seriously affects the sustainable development of agriculture. It became "white pollution." Since the introduction of mulch film in China in 1982, the use of mulch film in cotton fields in Xinjiang has reached 1.5 million tons, which has become one of the most serious areas of agricultural film residue pollution in China.

At the same time, more than one-third of the cotton fields in Xinjiang have been mechanized. In the process of harvesting cotton, a large amount of surface film and cotton film on the cotton plant are harvested. The broken film doped in the raw cotton is difficult to remove during the processing, which seriously affects the quality of the textile product.

In order to solve the cotton film mulch pollution, simplify the cotton planting technology, improve the cotton field efficiency, and promote the sustainable development of cotton production, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, famous cotton genetic breeder, and the chief scientist of the national modern agricultural industrial technology system, Yu Shuxun, led the Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University without film. The cotton comprehensive technical team has cultivated a new line of “early cotton 619”, which is particularly early maturing, salt-tolerant, low-temperature resistant and high-yield, and has been planted with a film-free cotton technology.

Years of experiments have confirmed that "Zhongmian 619" is suitable for film-free planting in southern Xinjiang. Under the condition of no membrane, "Zhongmian 619" can also quickly sprout seedlings, and the emergence rate and seedling rate have no significant difference with the emergence rate and seedling rate under the film-covering conditions. The cultivation of non-membrane cotton varieties and the innovation of supporting cultivation techniques have realized the filmless planting of cotton, completely eliminating the influence of residual film on soil pollution and fiber quality, and promoting the change of cotton planting concepts and models in China. Cotton planting and ecological cotton planting are of great significance. The government-led, research institutes and related enterprises have established a demonstration cotton-free cotton demonstration base in Xinjiang Aksu, Korla, Alar and other places, with a yield of 5,250 kg/ha. Film-free cotton planting can save 2,200 yuan per hectare to purchase mulch film and uncover film cost, and achieve the goal of “high-yield, environmentally-friendly and comprehensive benefits”, showing good prospects for promotion and application. Its key technologies have reached the international leading level.

During the observation and discussion activities, Yu Shuxun team demonstrated the high-quality and high-yield scientific research results of the film-free cotton and exchanged discussions with other expert representatives. Representatives of the participating experts said that through this observation, they have gained a deeper understanding of the importance and urgency of alleviating “white pollution” and have a deeper understanding of the specific requirements and technical specifications of non-membrane cotton planting.