Cotton Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.2, 80-94 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/cgg 85 future, it is necessary to strengthen publicity and simplify the claims process so that more cotton farmers are willing to participate in insurance. In general, by expanding market access for sustainable cotton, ensuring reasonable prices, and providing financial risk buffers, the resilience of all links in the industry chain can be effectively improved. When cotton farmers no longer worry about their livelihoods and dare to invest in new technologies, the sustainable transformation of cotton cultivation can truly achieve a virtuous cycle. 4 Technological Innovation 4.1 Precision agriculture technology The application of modern science and technology has injected new impetus into traditional cotton planting. Innovative elements such as precision agriculture, biotechnology and digital platforms are changing the way cotton is produced and improving its sustainability. Precision agriculture achieves the goal of optimizing input and output through the perception and targeted management of field heterogeneity. In cotton cultivation, precision agriculture is mainly reflected in precision fertilization, precision plant protection and precision irrigation. Using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS), the soil nutrients, water and vegetation growth distribution maps of cotton fields can be finely drawn, so as to achieve variable input on demand. For example, cotton farmers in the United States and Australia have widely adopted variable fertilization technology, applying fertilizers in different zones according to the differences in soil nitrogen and phosphorus content, which not only avoids excessive waste but also ensures sufficient nutrients for cotton. In the plant protection link, the combination of hyperspectral remote sensing and digital monitoring methods such as insect monitoring lights and sex traps makes cotton field pest monitoring more timely and accurate. Some research teams have developed an intelligent insect monitoring platform based on the Internet of Things, which uses field sensors and image recognition to automatically count pest density and automatically notify farmers to take control measures when the threshold is exceeded (Ahmed et al., 2024). The application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in cotton fields is also becoming more and more widespread. Plant protection drones can spray pesticides at low altitudes, with the advantages of high efficiency and low drift, which is very suitable for the integrated prevention and control of pests and diseases in large areas of cotton fields. In China, Xinjiang and other places are equipped with tens of thousands of plant protection drones for cotton field management, which not only reduces the amount of pesticides used, but also reduces the risk of human exposure to pesticides (Liu et al., 2024). Drones can also carry multispectral cameras to inspect cotton fields, detect problems such as seedling shortages, drought, and diseases, and realize precision agricultural technology services. Automatic navigation machinery is another important aspect of precision agriculture. Modern tractors and cotton pickers use GPS Beidou navigation to achieve centimeter-level automatic driving and operation, greatly improving the quality and efficiency of operations. For example, the precise navigation of trenching and film laying machines ensures that the drip irrigation tape is laid evenly and reduces waste; the automatic walking path of the cotton picker avoids overlap and omissions, and improves the cleanliness of the harvest. These technological innovations ultimately point to the optimization of resource input and the increase of yield per unit area, which is in line with the concept of sustainability. A research report by Dudhatra (2021) pointed out that among American cotton farmers, the adoption of precision agriculture technology has significantly improved the efficiency of fertilizer and pesticide utilization, reduced non-point source pollution, and maintained a high yield level. With the decline in equipment costs and the popularization of technical services, precision agriculture is expected to be implemented in more cotton-producing countries, helping to build a fine, efficient and environmentally friendly cotton cultivation system. 4.2 Biotechnology innovation Biotechnology has shown great potential in cotton improvement and pest and disease control. The Bt insect-resistant cotton is a successful case of transgenic breeding, which has greatly reduced the use of pesticides. But the role of biotechnology is far more than that. On the one hand, by combining traditional breeding with genetic engineering, scientists are breeding more stress-resistant cotton varieties. In the face of drought and heat waves caused by climate change, one of the coping strategies is to breed drought-resistant and high-temperature-resistant varieties. Some studies have used gene editing technology (CRISPR-Cas) to knock out genes related to cotton stomatal development, reducing plant transpiration and water consumption, thereby
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==