Abstract: The cotton-growing region of Yellow River valley is one of the three major cotton producing areas in China. It is of great strategic significance to promote the sustainable development of cotton production in this area through full improvement of cultivation technology. Firstly, the main problems of current cotton cultivation and management technology in the cotton area of the Yellow River valley were analyzed in the paper. These problems mainly include the diversification of cotton planting system and planting pattern, which hinders the simplification and mechanization in cotton production; the scale of cotton production is small with poor organization; the field management of cotton is not only complicated, but also cumbersome and labor-intensive due to poor mechanization. It is also indicated that a large number of rural labors have been transferred to the city due to the fast urbanization in this area, which leads to the decrease in both the number and quality of rural labors, making it difficult to support the traditional labor-intensive cultivation of cotton. Thus many problems occurred in cotton production such as great consumption of labors, large material input and low economic benefits, which are the main obstacles to the sustainable development of cotton production in this area. Adoption of light and simplified cultivation technology is an important way to improve the Chinese cotton competitiveness in the world market and the sustainable development of cotton production in the Yellow River valley of China. Secondly, the formation and development process of light and simplified cotton cultivation technology were reviewed. The key techniques for light and simplified cotton cultivation, including precision seeding, simplified seedling nursing and transplanting, concentrated fruiting, easy and simplified pruning and fertilization, water-saving irrigation and other light cultivation techniques for cotton production were summarized and reviewed. Finally, based on the review, the authors proposed tentative ideas to simplify management, save costs and improve fiber quality and economic benefits by further improvement and development of the light and simplified cotton cultivation technology. In order to achieve a higher level of light and simplified cultivation in the future, more attention should be paid to seeding and harvesting as well as to simplifying and reducing the management process. The planting system and planting mode should be further optimized to lay a foundation for the implementation of mechanized production; the precision sowing technology should be further improved to ensure full stand establishment after seeding once; new fertilizers and their application technology should be continually developed to further simplify fertilization and improve fertilizer use efficiency; cotton varieties suitable for light cultivation and mechanized harvest should be genetically developed to enhance mechanized harvesting of cotton according to local conditions. While continuing to innovate the key cultivation technologies, the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomic measures as well as the combination of the fine variety with fine cultivation method must also be strengthened. It is foreseeable that in the near future, the light and simplified cotton cultivation technology system will be further improved, which will play more important roles in sustainable development of cotton production in this area.

Key words: Yellow River Valley, cotton, light and simplified cultivation