Cotton production continued to grow rapidly in 2018

National cotton production data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed 6.096 million tons of cotton production in 2018， an increase of 444，000 tons from 2017， an increase of 7.8 percent. Of these， Xinjiangs cotton output was 5.111 million tons， up 545，000 tons over the previous year， an increase of 11.9 tons. Xinjiangs cotton output accounted for 83.8 percent of the country total， an increase of 3 percentage points over the previous year.

Increase of cotton planting area in China

The cotton planting area in 2018 was 3352.3 thousand hectare （50.285 million mu）， 157.6 thousand hectare （2.364 million mu） more than 2017， an increase of 4.9%.

By region， the cotton planting area in Xinjiang， the largest cotton producing area in China， increased by 273.9 thousand hectares （4.108 million mu） compared with 2017， an increase of 12.4%.The state has implemented the policy of cotton target price subsidy to Xinjiang region， especially the Xinjiang Construction Corps has carried out the policy of “three fixed” cotton prices and cancelled the “five unification” policies， which has aroused the production enthusiasm of cotton farmers and promoted the cotton production in Xinjiang. Under the influence of factors such as the benefit of planting and the adjustment of planting structure， 30 provinces （regions and municipalities） throughout the country （except Xinjiang） have continued the trend of shrinking production for many years， and the cotton planting area has decreased by 116.2 thousand hectares （1.743 million mu） compared with 2017. decrease of 11.9%. Among them， the cotton planting area in the Yangtze River Basin decreased by 107.0 thousand hectares （1.605 million mu） compared with 2017， decrease of 22.4%.

Cotton yield has been improved in China

The cotton yield per unit area in 2018 was 1818.3 kg / ha （121.2 kg/ mu）， an increase of 49.2 kg / ha （3.3 kg / mu） over the previous year， an increase of 2.8%.

Among them， the yield per unit area increased by 45.7 kg / ha （3.0 kg / mu） in the Yangtze River Basin， an increase of 4.3%； The yield per unit area increased 10.5 kg / ha （0.7 kg / mu） in the Yellow River Basin. Although the yield per unit area of cotton in Xinjiang is slightly lower than the previous year， decreased by 7.6 kg / ha （0.5 kg / mu） and by 0.4%， it is still as high as 2051.5 kg / ha （136.8 kg / mu）. It was 1.8 times higher than that in other cotton regions. The proportion of cotton planting area in Xinjiang increased further， which became an important factor for the increase of cotton yield.