Xinjiang cotton operation showcases smart farming

URUMQI — In Yuli county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a quadcopter can be observed gliding in the air over cotton fields while smart systems mist the soil. With no field workers in sight, a single operator can orchestrate the entire harvest preparation effort remotely via a smartphone.

This high-tech scene is the daily routine at a 200-hectare "super cotton field" where just two young operators manage the entire plot using a digital smart agriculture system.

Launched in 2021 by an agricultural robotics company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, this pilot project was aimed at testing the viability of a replicable, fully automated farming model.

Equipped with autonomous driving systems, agricultural drones and smart irrigation, this farm has achieved a 75 percent automation rate across the entire planting and harvesting cycle.

"Smart tech has significantly boosted efficiency," said Ai Haipeng, the project operator. While manual inspections of the entire field during the sprouting stage can take three days, autonomous drones can complete the task in half a day, speedily identifying missing seedlings, water leaks, weeds and pests.

Automation has also slashed costs. Compared with traditional farms, this cotton field has reduced expenses for water, fertilizer, pesticides and labor and recorded a 22 percent decrease in costs, while boosting yields by 8 percent.

The Yuli model has since been replicated across about 133,000 hectares of farmland in Xinjiang, serving as a microcosm of the region's broader agricultural transformation.

Powered by modern technology, Xinjiang's cotton production surged 8.4 percent to 6.16 million metric tons in 2025, accounting for 92.8 percent of China's total.

Grain output reached 24.32 million tons in this region last year, marking its eighth consecutive year of growth, with per-hectare yields ranking first nationally for two straight years. These milestones have further cemented Xinjiang's status as a key national agricultural hub.

Xinjiang's push is part of a broader national drive to digitize and modernize China's agriculture sector.

In line with the latest national smart agriculture roadmap, the country is accelerating the rollout of demonstration zones, big data platforms and intelligent equipment.

By 2025, technology had contributed to over 64 percent of agricultural output, with comprehensive mechanization in crop farming hitting 76.7 percent, while the nation's agricultural drone fleet surpassed 300,000 units.

Regional officials are doubling down on this strategy.

Xie Yingzhou, head of Xinjiang's agriculture department, said the region will further step up agricultural technology and equipment support over the next five years, developing next-generation agricultural productivity tailored to local conditions while expanding applications in artificial intelligence, the low-altitude economy, and smart farming to make technology the key driver of agricultural quality and efficiency.

XINHUA