Cotton planted on 201,300 mu (13,420 hectares) of farmland in Kashgar city, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has entered its harvest season.

Li Jiancai, a cotton grower in Akekashi township, Kashgar city, was harvesting cotton with machinery. He was delighted to see that the cotton was efficiently harvested.

A machine reaps cotton in a field in Akekashi township, Kashgar city, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Chinanews.com/Dong Xiao)

Li said he sees a bumper harvest of cotton this year, thanks to the implementation of scientific fertilization and irrigation.

Jiang Wei, the driver who operated a machine, shuttled back and forth on Li's cotton fields to quickly separate cotton from cotton stalks. The cotton was then pushed into the storage compartment, and in no time, a huge cotton bale was made.

"We employ machinery for cotton harvest, which allows us to efficiently harvest cotton on over 400 mu of fields in 24 hours. Each cotton bale weighs between 2.1 to 2.2 tonnes," said Jiang.

Photo shows a cotton bale. (Chinanews.com/Dong Xiao)

Thanks to ongoing mechanization advancements, Li has reduced the need for manual labor, which gives him more confidence in expanding the planting area.

This year, Li has focused on the scientific and high-quality management of the cotton fields, and has seen a significant improvement in the quality of cotton compared to last year.

He added that the harvesting process would be completed within the next 10 days. The high-quality cotton fields this year have the potential to yield over 500 kilograms per mu, while the average fields yield around 400 kilograms per mu. On average, the yield per mu ranges from 350 to 360 kilograms.

Cotton bales are loaded on a truck. (Chinanews.com/Dong Xiao)

Eminjan Memetiming, an official from the Agricultural Development Center of Akekashi township, said, "We have a total of 128,000 mu of cotton fields, and the picking began during the National Day holiday. Fifteen cotton-picking machines are currently operating in rotation, and we will bring in over 10 additional machines based on the maturity of the cotton."

Large vehicles loaded with cotton bales are seen in cotton fields in Akekashi township. (Chinanews.com/Dong Xiao)

This year, the cotton planting area in Kashgar city is 201,300 mu, with an estimated cotton production of 82,100 tonnes.

To ensure a smooth harvest, the city's bureau of agriculture and rural affairs has deployed 29 machines to pick cotton. The city has achieved a mechanized harvesting rate of 74.51 percent, and the cotton harvest is expected to be completed by the end of November.