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Uzbekistan has purchased the largest batch of Chinese cotton harvesters. China intends to oust John Deere, Case and others
In the final assembly workshop of Xinjiang Boshiran Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Boshiran company) 36 four–row cotton harvesters have been "neatly lined up" and will be shipped to Uzbekistan in the near future. This year, the company signed a contract for the supply of 54 cotton harvesters to Uzbekistan with a total value of more than 80 million yuan. According to data provided by the Chinese Export Credit Insurance Company, this is the largest and largest single transaction for the export of domestic cotton harvesters.
In December, the Chinese-Uzbek Park of Modern Agricultural Technologies completed the harvesting of vast cotton fields with impressive "white waves". Cotton is now awaiting sowing in the new year, when the entire harvest will be delivered to the warehouse. Chinese cotton seeds are used here, Chinese cotton is used under membrane drip irrigation using effective planting technology. Thanks to these innovations, cotton yields have increased from the previous 200 kg per mu (approximately 0.07 ha) to an impressive 400 kg. Local farmers expressed their satisfaction, emphasizing the convenience of using Chinese cotton harvesters. The first delivery of 18 such machines was delivered to Uzbekistan at the end of October, and after their successful use, local cotton growers sent positive feedback to the marketing department of Boshiran.
Boshiran was represented from Jiaxing City by the Xinjiang Relief Command from Jiaxing. Due to the significant increase in the speed of cotton harvesting, the company is on the path of development, the share of the domestic market is growing rapidly, and in 2021 it was recognized as a national specialized and new "small giant" enterprise. "In 2019, our cotton harvesters went abroad for the first time, and since then, the international market share has continued to expand," said Bao Jinyang, director of marketing planning at Baoshiran.
Uzbekistan was one of the centers of the ancient Silk Road and one of the first countries to support the "One Belt, One Road" initiative. Today, it is the largest producer of cotton in Central Asia, where about 800,000 tons of this raw material are produced annually, which allows the country to occupy the fifth place in the world ranking of producers. However, despite the outstanding figures, hand-picked cotton still prevails in Uzbekistan. In this regard, the country needs a wider introduction of modern agricultural equipment.
Unlike conventional agricultural products, the development and production of cotton harvesters is a complex process involving information, technology and capital, as well as requiring the use of high-tech equipment. Designing these machines is a complex and labor-intensive process, where each unit consists of thousands of parts and components. Research and development in this area involves significant technical difficulties. This led to a long time when the cotton harvesting market, including the five Central Asian countries, Turkey and Chinese Xinjiang, was controlled by the monopoly of American companies such as John Deere, Case, New Holland, and others. For example, in Xinjiang Province in China, the share of imported cotton harvesters once exceeded 90 percent.
Since the beginning of 2019, companies such as Boshiran have successfully overcome a number of technological barriers in the field of cotton harvesters, including the introduction of automatic control systems, which previously presented significant challenges. "The cotton harvesting machine that we are exporting this time is completely produced domestically. According to foreign planting standards, the efficiency of this machine can reach from 25 to 40 mu per hour, and the percentage of cotton harvest exceeds 93%." Liu Juntian, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Research and Development Department at Boshiran, stressed that these achievements are related to overcoming technical difficulties. Currently, the company has 193 fully independent intellectual property rights, including 12 patents for inventions.
Earlier, domestic cotton harvesters successfully passed extensive inspections and were promoted in the markets of five Central Asian countries, as well as in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil and other countries. Liu Chen, assistant chief of the Xinjiang Main Station for the promotion of agricultural machinery, noted that "the first large-scale export of domestic cotton harvesters to foreign countries is undoubtedly becoming a new important stage in the development of the industry and highlights the competitive advantages of Chinese industry in the production of agricultural machinery in the global market."
Photo provided by the interviewer
Editor: Zhang Lin
Editor-in-Chief: Wu Xiaoyu
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