URUMQI, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Several hundred kilometers from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, cotton plants in a 1,000-mu (about 66.67 hectares) demonstration field are approaching one meter in height, each bearing 8 to 10 bolls.
For Song Meizhen, chief scientist of a high-quality cotton research team at the Institute of Western Agriculture under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the crop is developing as expected.
"Given the current growth and field management, the field is well on track to exceed the target of 550 kilograms of seed cotton per mu this year," Song said.
This high-standard cotton seed breeding demonstration field is jointly operated by Xinjiang Huaxing Investment Group and the institute. From surveying the land and selecting varieties before spring planting to designing cultivation methods and setting technical standards for sowing and field management, Chinese researchers have been involved throughout the process.
They have also provided regular video guidance and remote technical support.
The project combines high-quality cotton varieties with a range of techniques already widely used in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, including drip irrigation under plastic film, denser planting designed to improve light use, and mechanized harvesting.
Song said the cooperation endeavor is aimed at introducing a package of Chinese cotton-growing technologies and management practices to Uzbekistan.
Xinjiang is China's largest cotton-producing region. In 2025, it produced 6.17 million tonnes of cotton, accounting for 92.8 percent of the national total. The region's cotton sector is already among the world's most mechanized, with an overall mechanization rate for cultivation and harvesting surpassing 97 percent.
At a smart cotton field jointly developed by the Xinjiang Changji National Agricultural High-tech Industry Demonstration Zone and the institute, weather stations and soil-moisture sensors collect field data around the clock, helping growers manage irrigation, fertilizer and other field operations more precisely.
According to the institute, the system can save more than 10 percent of water and nearly 20 percent of fertilizer per mu while increasing yields by over 10 percent.
Similarities in climate, water and soil conditions between Xinjiang and Central Asian countries have laid the groundwork for cross-border adoption of improved cotton varieties, cultivation techniques and agricultural machinery.
Shadman Namazov, an academician of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences who has visited the Changji demonstration zone several times, said Chinese cotton-growing techniques have brought improvements in planting density, water use, yields and quality compared with traditional local practices.
He cited precision irrigation and fertilizer use, mechanized operations and modern field management, saying these technologies were scientifically grounded and could be replicated on a wider scale.
Namazov added that the use of Chinese techniques in Uzbekistan has helped raise cotton yields while reducing production costs, contributing to higher incomes for local growers.
These cooperation efforts are also translating into stronger demand for Chinese cotton seeds and agricultural machinery in Central Asia.
Hilltide, a Xinjiang-based seed industry company, sells cotton seeds and provides related technical services in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Company executive Lu Yang said its cotton seed exports to Central Asia rose from 800 tonnes during the sales season from late 2024 to early 2025 to 1,500 tonnes during the season from late 2025 to early 2026.
Lu revealed that the company's cotton seeds have maintained a market share of more than 70 percent in its Central Asian markets, attributing the growth to high-yield, stress-resistant varieties and technical services provided in addition to the seeds.
Chinese cotton pickers are gaining ground in Central Asia as well.
The Xinjiang branch of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. dispatched a batch of new four-row box-type cotton pickers to Central Asia in early July. The company said its cotton pickers have been developed to suit planting patterns and harvesting conditions in Central Asia, and orders from the region account for more than 70 percent of its production capacity this year.
At Xinjiang Boshiran Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., Vice President Feng Guang said Chinese high-end cotton pickers can match leading international products in harvesting efficiency while costing about half as much as comparable European and U.S. machines.
Feng said a high level of domestically produced components, shorter delivery times and more timely after-sales service have also helped Chinese machines meet demand in Central Asian markets. The company has seen a sharp increase in overseas orders since last year, he added.
Alongside business exchanges, research cooperation has also deepened. Since 2023, Chinese institutions have worked with agricultural research institutes across all five Central Asian countries on joint research and technical training in cotton breeding, high-yield cultivation and water-saving irrigation, while promoting standardized technical guidelines in English and Russian.
The Uzbek demonstration field is one place where the results of this cooperation can be seen in the crop itself. Across Central Asia, Chinese cotton expertise is increasingly arriving not as a single product, but as a combination of seeds, farming techniques and machinery. ■
