The Institute of Cotton Research, CAAS has recently accomplished two technological breakthroughs in cotton irrigation and fertilization.

The semi-subsurface drip irrigation system extended in Xinjiang autonomous region has pushed the average annual output up by 11% in three years and enhanced the water use efficiency by 35%; a nutrition uptake and balanced fertilization model was established, which contributed to the integrated irrigation and fertilization system adopted in the Yellow River, Huai River and Hai River regions.

The new irrigation system and fertilization model were applied in 132,000 hectares of demonstration areas, which have increased the water and fertilizer use efficiency by 20-30% and yielded more than 10% of unginned cotton.