The Income Of Employees Decreases By One Third. Cotton Farmers And Buyers Are Waiting For The Market

As a kind of economic crop with relatively stable income, cotton planting has always been a reserved project in more than ten villages in Duchang Street, Changyi City. This planting habit has lasted for nearly half a century. When Ms. Liu, a villager in Xiyong'an Village who was helping her uncle sell cotton that day, learned that the reporter was learning about the yield and price of cotton this year, she even said that she could not earn money.

According to the Weifang Evening News, as a kind of economic crop with relatively stable income, cotton planting has always been a reserved project in more than a dozen villages in Duchang Street, Changyi City. This planting habit has lasted for nearly half a century. Now it is the season of cotton harvest, but cotton farmers do not feel the joy of harvest at all. Due to the weather, this year's cotton production is reduced by nearly half. In addition, the sales channel is single, and the price is weak, many cotton farmers have just earned a break even after hard work. Cotton farmers complained: "You can't earn money by planting cotton, and you won't plant anything next year!"

Employment income reduced by one third

Due to relatively stable income, more than a dozen villages such as Xulinzhuang Village, Yuandongzhuang Village, Xiyong'an Village, Dongyong'an Village and Bolebu in Duchang Street of Changyi City have been planting cotton since the early 1970s. As the main cotton production area of Changyi City, Duchang Street has only 37000 mu of planting area this year, 1000 mu less than last year.

This year, the cotton planting area of Xiyongan Village has reached more than 20000 mu, and the cotton fields are mainly concentrated in the vast depressions behind the village. At about 11:00 am on the 12th, the reporter came to the village and saw that cotton balls in the cotton fields were as white as snowflakes, and the villagers picking cotton were busy in the fields.

Near a cotton field, the reporter saw dozens of women sitting in the field to rest and eat. "We are from nearby Maqu Village (Longchi Town), and we came here today to help people pick cotton." One of the sister-in-law surnamed Zhang told reporters that 30 people came to their village that day, "The growth of cotton this year is not as good as that of last year. We can only earn 75 cents this year by picking a catty of cotton for people. Last year, it was 80 cents. Now, we can earn 60 or 70 yuan in a busy day. In the past, we could basically earn 100 yuan a day." said Aunt Zhang.

The average yield per mu is reduced by 200 kg to 300 kg

A villager in Xiyong'an Village who used a tricycle to transport cotton home told reporters that this year's cotton harvest was the worst in recent years. "Last year, I planted 11 mu of land and harvested more than 7000 jin of cotton. On average, the yield per mu is more than 600 jin. This year, the maximum yield per mu can be 300 to 400 jin." The villager said that this year, the weather was first waterlogged and then dry, which seriously affected the cotton bud setting and peach bearing. The cotton tree only bears a few cotton peaches on its branches. The yield reduction is certain, with a yield reduction of 200 to 300 jin per mu.

When Ms. Liu, a villager in Xiyong'an Village who was helping her uncle sell cotton that day, learned that the reporter was learning about the yield and price of cotton this year, she even said that she could not earn money. "I planted more than 20 mu of cotton this year, and on average, I only harvested 300 jin per mu, which is nearly half of the production reduction compared with last year. I'm tired and can't recover the cost. I'm afraid the price of cotton will be lower and lower this year, and I'm worried about selling it, so I sold it quickly." Ms. Liu told reporters that her family has been planting cotton for more than ten years, compared with other food crops, It takes time and effort to plant cotton. Just spraying medicine can make people tired. After several months of hard work, it's a waste of effort.

"I don't plan to plant any more next year. It's better to rent out the land and go out to work." Ms. Liu told reporters that cotton planting is getting worse year by year. Many people who originally planted cotton in the village planted peanuts this year.

Cotton farmers' buyers are waiting for the market

The reporter learned in the interview that more than a dozen villages in Duchang Street have sold cotton to dealers who came to buy it or to local small cotton processing plants in recent years. Because most of the processing plants buy on credit, many cotton farmers prefer to sell less money, but also choose to sell cotton to sellers for cash. A cotton farmer told the reporter that at this time in the past years, there had been a lot of people coming and going to buy cotton, but this year it was relatively quiet. On the one hand, the cotton farmers were waiting for the price because of the reduction of production, and on the other hand, the buyers were waiting for the price to drop.

At about 12 noon that day, the reporter met two cotton buyers from Hanting in Xiyong'an Village. Mr. Xiao, who has loaded all the cotton collected into the truck, told reporters that this year's cotton was difficult to harvest. In previous years, when they went to the village to harvest cotton, it took them only a short time to harvest 10000 jin each time, but only 7000 jin were collected that morning. "The main reason is that the output of cotton is low. In the past, there were dozens of cotton farmers in this village who could harvest 50000 to 60000 kilograms of cotton, but this year they sold less." Mr. Xiao said that although the output reduction was serious, the cotton price was only 1 to 2 cents higher than last year. This year, the purchase price of good cotton is between 4.1 yuan and 4.3 yuan per kilogram, and that of poor quality cotton is about 3 yuan per kilogram.

The reporter saw on a north-south road in Xiyong'an Village that a purchase vehicle stopped at the entrance of an alley was loading cotton. The cotton in the carriage had piled up nearly 4 meters high, and Mr. Shen, the buyer, was squatting on it, sorting out cotton bags. "My truck has to have tens of thousands of jin of cotton. Many of our local small processing plants have stopped buying, so we have to go to the cotton processing plant in Dongying to sell them." Mr. Shen said that the cotton market this year is also helpless. He has only received 10 or so trucks of cotton this year, and two or three of them have lost money. Even if we make money, we can't earn much. The purchase price is 4.2 yuan and 4.3 yuan per kilogram. The processing plant in Dongying can earn 5 cents per kilogram. Apart from the oil and road fees, we can earn 300 yuan at most if we collect 10000 kilograms of cotton. Every time he comes out with his wife to collect cotton. The two of them earn 300 yuan a day. It's better to work outside.

The income of 30 mu cotton has just been guaranteed

Lao Qi, a villager in Xulinzhuang Village who planted 30 mu of cotton this year, told reporters that the cotton he harvested this year could be sold just enough to break even. He calculated an account for the reporter. The cost of planting cotton per mu was about 1100 yuan, including 600 yuan/year for land contracting, 100 yuan/mu for cotton planting, 20 yuan/mu for plastic film, and pesticide and labor costs. "I can harvest more than 400 jin of cotton per mu this year, which is more than 200 jin less than that of last year, but the purchase price is the same as that of last year." Lao Qi said, so he can earn 500 yuan per mu this year, but after removing the miscellaneous expenses such as hiring workers to manage food, there is basically no money left.

"It's better to grow cotton now than wheat, corn and other food crops, but we have a lot of saline and alkaline land here, which is not suitable for growing food." Lao Qi said that when he saw how bleak cotton planting was, he had no confidence to plant any more.