Once struggling with poor soil conditions and low yields, the village of Baishitam in Kashi Prefecture of northwest China's remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been transformed into a thriving agricultural hub with the help of the village's Communist Party of China branch secretary Talip Sadik.
Before Sadik came to the Village, farmers in the village weren't very familiar with scientific management practices. They used to rely on working the land for income. The cotton yield was under 50 kilograms per mu (around 750 kg per hectare).
To solve all these, Talip Sadik has spearheaded land consolidation and introduced water-saving irrigation techniques among villagers.
"Starting in 2020, we introduced efficient water-saving methods, such as Land Consolidation, with which we have been able to turn small plots into bigger fields. Since adopting these measures, farmers' incomes have steadily increased," said Sadik.
"Not a single piece of land is left unused, and no farmer suffers from a lack of water. Now, the cotton yield has reached around 600 kg per mu (9,000 kg per hectare)," he added.
The payoff is clear.
"Farmers' [annual] incomes have risen to over 23,000 yuan (about 3,200 U.S. dollars) [per household], which is the average income, though some households earn as much as 50,000 to 60,000 yuan (about 7,000 to 8,400 U.S. dollars) [a year]. This is a significant improvement," Sadik said.
The harvested acreage has surpassed 2,500 mu (over 167 hectares), and over 95 percent of the cotton is now picked by farm machinery, according to Sadik.
Baishitam Village is no longer just about cotton. From growing Liuxiang melons and fennel in March to producing chili peppers and vegetables in spring and summer, and red dates in November, farmers now enjoy year-round harvests. The once-barren land has become fertile ground for diverse crops, ensuring steady income throughout the seasons.
For Sadik, the village's success is not measured in his own wealth, but in the collective prosperity of the local population.
"I really enjoy being the secretary of the Party Branch. It's not enough for me to be wealthy on my own. If I'm the only one making money, that's not real prosperity. I want to help all the villagers around me prosper, so that we can all earn a good living together. Only then will I truly consider myself successful," he said.
Barren village transformed in northwest China's Xinjiang into thriving agricultural hub
