By Qin Ningwei, Dominique Patton 

BEIJING, July 18 (Reuters) - China’s agriculture ministry on Tuesday urged cotton growers in the world’s top producer to irrigate and fertilise more to cope with scorching temperatures that have hit major growing areas during the critical flowering period.

Large swathes of China have experienced periods of record high temperatures since last month, and on Sunday a city in the northwestern region of Xinjiang broke records when the temperature reached 52.2 Celsius (125.96 Fahrenheit).

Xinjiang produces about 90% of China’s cotton but acreage has dropped by about 8% this year, partly because of cold, rainy weather that killed off shoots in the spring, according to a China-based trader.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in its monthly crop update last week that high temperatures had impacted cotton bud growth in some regions.

Farmers should water the cotton if there’s no rainfall for over seven days or the daily average temperature surpasses 32C, and the top of the cotton plant shows signs of withering, the ministry said in a statement.

Cotton futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange are at their highest level in a year at 17,135 yuan ($2,388.65)per metric ton.

Despite an expected reduction in output in the 2023/24 crop year, the ministry last week cut its forecast for cotton imports on weaker-than-expected demand from textile enterprises.

$1 = 7.1735 Chinese yuan renminbi Reporting by Ningwei Qin and Dominique Patton; editing by Robert Birsel