Over 66,700 hectares of cotton harvested mechanically in Xinjiang

More than one million mu ( about 66.7 thousand hectares) of cotton has been harvested fully mechanically in the city of Aksu, northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 　

Large cotton picking machines were applied in villages and towns in Aksu, quickly separating the cotton balls from the stem and pushing them to the basket through pneumatic tubes. 　

A total of 1.04 million mu ( about 69.3 thousand hectares) of cotton has been planted this year, over one million mu of which was harvested mechanically. Around 200 cotton picking machines are expected to be put into operation this fall, and the mechanization rate of cotton picking is estimated to surpass 95 percent.