The Belt and Road · Zero Distance | Adherence and Dream of One Cotton Bearing Field | Cotton | Bearing

Urumqi/Tashkent, September 20th, Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua) -- Title: A Cotton Carrying Persistence and Dreams

Xinhua News Agency reporter Ge Chen, Zhang Jiawei, Guo Yuqi

The cotton fields of Uzbek Sergei Donayev are about to harvest.

"At least 5000 kilograms per hectare." On the 20th, standing in an endless cotton field, Donayev confidently predicted.

Just three years ago, this was an unimaginable harvest. Since using Chinese cotton seeds and technology, his cotton field yield has steadily increased, almost twice as much as before, while inputs such as manpower, fertilizer, and water have decreased by more than half.

In 2020, Donayev began to accept the guidance of experts from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and became the first person in his village of Guwarak to try China's water-saving cotton planting technology. In the past three years, his life has undergone earth shattering changes, not only renovating his house, but also buying a new car, resulting in a significant increase in family income.

For Donaev, while income growth is important, he values future development prospects more. Uzbekistan is rich in cotton and is known as the "Platinum Country". However, the livelihoods of countless cotton farmers in Uzbekistan are facing serious threats from the Aral Sea ecological crisis.

The Aral Sea, located at the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, was once the fourth largest lake in the world. By comparing satellite photos, it can be observed that the shrinking area of the Aral Sea is alarming. From 1960 to 2020, the surface area of the Aral Sea decreased from approximately 67000 square kilometers to approximately 6000 square kilometers. After nearly 5 years of joint scientific research, scientists from China and Uzbekistan jointly released a phased research report at the end of 2022, stating that the increase in evapotranspiration caused by rising temperatures is a key factor in the sharp reduction of the Aral Sea area, and proposing a governance plan to promote efficient water-saving technologies to restore the ecological environment of the Aral Sea.

Chen Xi, director of the Central Asia Ecological and Environmental Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that water-saving technology is one of the important ways to solve the ecological difficulties of Central Asian countries. A large amount of water resources in Uzbekistan are used for cotton planting, and the problem of large water consumption can be effectively solved by promoting water-saving technology to improve water efficiency.

China's water-saving technology is already very mature. In the cotton producing areas of Xinjiang, subsurface drip irrigation technology has been widely promoted for many years.

On September 14th, in a cotton field near Wujiaqu City, Xinjiang, cotton farmer Gong Lunquan inspected the growth of cotton. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin

On September 14th, in a cotton field near Wujiaqu City, Xinjiang, cotton farmer Gong Lunquan inspected the growth of cotton. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin

In a cotton field not far from Urumqi, cotton farmer Gong Lunquan reminisced while waving his hands to demonstrate the method of "flooding" in the past. "In the past, a large amount of water was needed every spring and winter, which required high ground smoothness. It was not easy for seedlings to emerge in areas higher and lower." He said that using drip irrigation technology under the film can save at least 500 cubic meters of water per acre of land per year.

This is a cotton field taken on September 14th in Wujiaqu City near Urumqi, Xinjiang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin

As early as 2019, the Xinjiang Institute of Land and Resources and the Water Research Institute of the Ministry of Water Resources of Uzbekistan signed an agreement to jointly build a water-saving cotton field demonstration zone. In the same year, the institute signed an agreement on the management of the Aral Sea ecosystem with the Uzbekistan Aral Sea International Innovation Center. At present, Xinjiang Institute of Agriculture has built a number of water-saving cotton field demonstration zones in Uzbekistan and is preparing to further expand their scale in the future.

Donayev's cotton fields are located in these demonstration areas, where the local cotton yield used to be just over 2000 kilograms per hectare, but now it has exceeded 4500 kilograms. This successful experience has attracted increasing attention, and many people have traveled from other places to this small village in Kashkadaria Oblast in southern Uzbekistan to learn from the Chinese experience.

Liu Tie, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Natural Science and Technology, said that these technologies used in Uzbekistan are not simply copying and pasting Chinese experience, but rather solutions that researchers have continuously explored through a series of experiments and localized improvements, which are most suitable for local practical needs.

Donayev particularly admires the "hardworking and sincere" Chinese experts. "They even care more about my cotton than I do, and they will come over as soon as I need them.".

This is a photo taken on September 29, 2021, of an abandoned ship stranded in the Aral Sea in Muinak, Uzbekistan. Shen Jizhong

The harm of the Aral Sea ecological crisis is far more than just water scarcity. The exposed lake bottom forms huge open-air rock layers, becoming the source of sandstorms and salt storms. Studies have shown that these sandstorms and salt dust have a wide range of impacts, ranging from Norway in the west to Siberia in the north, covering the Iranian Plateau in the south, and may also affect western China.

Chen Xi said that according to calculations by researchers from both countries, if water-saving irrigation technology is widely adopted in the main cotton producing areas of Uzbekistan, it is expected to save 8 billion to 10 billion cubic meters of water annually, effectively maintaining the surface area of the Aral Sea and reducing the occurrence of salt and dust storms.

To further address the ecological issues in the Aral Sea, researchers from both countries have identified the source of salt and dust storms in the Aral Sea through remote sensing and field investigations. Chen Xi said that it is an area of approximately 8000 square kilometers, and plans to use Chinese technology to control it in the future, which is expected to reduce salt and dust storms by more than 70%.

Shamshud Akomalov, Associate Professor of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineering at Tashkent University in Uzbekistan, has been collaborating with Chinese scientists for a long time to jointly find solutions to the ecological crisis in the Aral Sea. He said that the Aral Sea ecological crisis is a world-class problem that spans across countries and regions, and the solution lies in technological cooperation.

From the "the Belt and Road" Ecological and Environmental Protection Cooperation Plan issued in 2017 to the "China Central Asia Summit Xi'an Declaration" issued in May 2023, the path for China and Central Asian countries to jointly build a green "the Belt and Road" has become clearer and the mechanism has become increasingly mature, which has constantly injected new momentum into ecological science and technology cooperation, joint response to the Aral Sea ecological crisis, desertification control and the development of renewable energy.

The efforts to improve the ecological environment are arduous and lengthy. Liu Tie, who has been engaged in ecological environment research and management in Central Asia for many years, has also witnessed their growing recognition and trust in China's programs and their enthusiasm for participating in the joint construction of the green "the Belt and Road" because of the affinity between cotton and local people.

His dream is to promote China's water-saving cotton planting technology to more regions in Central Asia. This is destined to be a hard work, but he said, "No matter how much effort you put in for a common home, it's worth it."