This year's sharp cost increases for hand labor cotton picking appear to be changing the economics of cotton harvesting in Xinjiang. The large, flat cotton fields of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (PCC) are a natural for machine picking, and the remote location of these fields is making it increasingly difficult to draw sufficient labor for picking. NCMMS calculation of this year's hand picking costs indicates that it is now cheaper to use machine pickers on the larger PCC farms than to hand pick. Total costs of machine picking are estimated at 180 yuan per mu, plus 30 yuan for defoliation. Total harvest costs, assuming two pickings, are now estimated to be 40 percent less than hand picking.
Several PCC farms have expanded machine picking this season, but there is still considerable concern that using machines will reduce the quality of cotton and lower grades. This issue may need to be addressed before machine picking becomes the established method of use in Xinjiang.
