Higher Chinese dates output in Makit County thanks to more scientific cultivation methods and mechanization

Makit County of Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is known as the “county of red dates”. Abundant sunshine in the region is ideal for growing great qualities of Chinese dates.

Yantak Township has 16,900 mu (1 mu = 0.067 hectares) of cultivated land, of which 12,200 mu is used for growing Chinese dates. In 2020, the average output of Chinese dates reached 500 kilograms per mu. Some experienced farmers can even produce 1 ton of red dates per mu.

The field for growing Chinese dates (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

A local farmer who has been growing Chinese dates for decades has witnessed the changes in the technologies of growing and processing Chinese dates since he started out.

A farmer from Yankat Township (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

In 1986, this local farmer started growing Chinese dates with his parents. Then, in 2007, he began cultivating his own plot. When he worked with his parents, they had to do all the work by hand, such as picking the dates, trimming the branches, and flattening the ground. He even had to carry a bucket on his back to spray insecticides. By 2007, most of the work had become mechanized. Now, there are unmanned aerial vehicles spraying insecticides.

The first year when he planted dates by himself, the harvest was disappointing. By the third year, he earned 15,000 yuan. Now, he makes an annual income of 128,000 yuan. Since 2014, he has maintained an annual income exceeding 100,000 yuan.

Reflecting on the differences in harvest outcomes, he attributes the change to the guidance he received from the village and county committees. “At first, I was a little careless with my work. But the village and county committees would tell us to apply more scientific methods to growing red dates. Every day, they would inform us on how to pick red dates, how and when to apply fertilizers,” he said. Gradually, other villagers and him gained a better understanding of how to grow Chinese dates, and became more skilled at their work. With more scientific cultivation methods and total mechanization, output continued to boom. For this farmer personally, in recent years, output increased from 500 kilograms to 1 ton per mu.

After farmers collect their individual harvest, the local government would gather all the harvest together to find and expand channels for sales. Now, the average farmer in Yantak Township makes 44,000 yuan annually by growing Chinese dates, which accounts for over 70% of their total annual incomes.