China's main cotton producing areas will further shift

26 Feb '14

1 min read

China has limited arable land resources, and in future arable land, water and other natural resources would become increasingly scarce as urbanization progresses.

At present, Chinese cotton production is to a great extent based on manual, time consuming and laborious processes, and it would be competing for arable land with food production, where there is high degree of mechanization, according to experts.

Moreover, the Government’s priority would be ensuring national food security, and hence, the future stability and expansion of area under cotton would be difficult.

Experts say it is obvious that the area under cotton would reduce in the traditional cotton growing Yellow and Yangtze River regions.

As a result, future cotton production areas in China will further shift to the northwest Xinjiang and other inland areas, where cotton yields will slowly improve.

However, considering the fact that traditionally cotton is the main source of cash income for farmers, the rate of decline in area under cotton would not be too fast.

By 2020, analysts expect China’s area under cotton to be between 6,000 and 7,000 acres, while the yield is likely to fluctuate between 550 and 700 million tons.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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