Rise of the machines

Since 2009, machinery has played a greater role in growing and harvesting cotton.

Tractors and agricultural equipment now prepare the ground for planting, sow the seeds, spray, spread fertilizer and reap the annual harvest-jobs once done by manual laborers.

Xinjiang Yinfeng Modern Agricultural Equipment, administered by the Communist League Farm and set up in 2012, has over 150 cotton harvesting machines and 40 technicians. It harvested 45,333 hectares of cotton crops last year using the machines.

Liu Xunzhang, vice-president of the company, said in 2014 each machine harvested 167 hectares of cotton land during the monthlong picking season. With improvements in efficiency, the number has risen to 300 hectares today, further reducing the farmers' costs.

"To harvest 100 mu of cotton fields, for example, takes less than three hours with our equipment," he said.

"In the past, the farmers would need to hire more than 20 people to pick for more than one month by hand. The saving (using harvesters) is about 200 yuan per mu."

Farmers can also receive free training to operate the harvesters, a job which can earn them 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a month, Liu added.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, agricultural machines now do 94 percent of the corps' farm work, 26 percentage points higher than the national average for mechanization rates. The corps also uses 43 planes to help sow seeds and spray pesticides.

During the slow seasons, the farmers are given classes on the latest farming techniques and how to operate equipment.

From what they have learned, the farmers have been experimenting with new ideas such as modifying machinery.

"The equipment and technology not only free your body, but more importantly free your mind," Zheng Chunlin said.

"A couple of years ago we wouldn't dare use a machine to sow seeds. Now we are trying new techniques on our own."