World News
US sanctions forced Xinjiang cotton to adapt, but survival comes at a cost
Key Points
The fields in Xinjiang’s Awati county – a cotton hub hit by US sanctions – were nearly ready for the October harvest. Yusup Molamaiti, a 36-year-old technician, recalled what it was like manually planting and harvesting 37 mu (about 2.5 hectares or 6 acres) of scattered plots of land. “Planting a single mu took up to three hours with two people laying plastic film by hand,” he said.
The fields in Xinjiang’s Awati county – a cotton hub hit by US sanctions – were nearly ready for the October harvest.
Yusup Molamaiti, a 36-year-old technician, recalled what it was like manually planting and harvesting 37 mu (about 2.5 hectares or 6 acres) of scattered plots of land.
“Planting a single mu took up to three hours with two people laying plastic film by hand,” he said. Harvesting would lock his family into year-round labour, yielding just 250-300kg (551-661lbs) per mu.
Today, his...