COTTON

COTTON

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural condition, the cotton balls will tend to increase the dispersion of the seeds.

SOURCE
The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.

PRODUCTION METHODS
Before cotton can be processed into the many products it becomes it must be planted, irrigated, nurtured with fertilizer, protected from unwanted weeds, grasses and insects and harvested. This usually means loosening the soil to the depth of 1 to 2 feet with tillage equipment. This will allow water and cotton roots to penetrate the soil and support the plant. A seedbed is prepared by listing the soil. This allows for faster warming of the soil in the spring and directs irrigation water across the field. Small amounts of soil enriching nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, may be added to the soil at this time. Planting may be done by hand, but in the more advanced regions of the world, mechanical

planters are used. When the soil reaches optimum temperature, about 65 degrees, these implements will place the seeds in the soil, usually 1 to 2 inches deep, depending on soil type. The mechanical planters can cover as many as 12 rows at a time. In some cotton production regions, where soil erosion is a problem, conservation tillage is used. In this system, crop residue from the previous crop or a cover crop is left on the soil surface to protect the soil from heavy rains and winds. A special planter is used to open the soil and place the seed without disturbing the protective cover. When its available, additional water is delivered to the fields. Sometimes only from natural rainfall, called rain-feed farming, or through irrigation, called irrigated farming. This can be accomplished in 3 different ways; 1) furrow irrigation takes place by simply running water down a seedbed furrow, 2) sprinkler irrigation is much like lawn sprinklers where pressurized water is sprayed out over an area, and 3)drip tape irrigation, this is a relatively new method of irrigation using buried tubing that releases water into the soil beneath the plant. Most of today's commercial cotton farms use a combination of weed control methods. Such as,Cultivation which is done mechanically by machines called cultivators, hand rogueing or weed removal by people with the use of weed hoes and the application of chemical herbicides. Chemical herbicides can be applied before or after the cotton is planted When the cotton plant is in its seedling stage, it is very susceptible to soil borne fungal disease. Development of disease resistant cotton seed has become a priority in the industry. Cotton varieties resistant to some fungi and other destructive organisms have been developed and are being used in certain areas The plant's food, or nutrients, is referred to in agriculture as fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium and magnesium are the primary fertilizer elements (macronutrients) but there are several trace elements (micronutrients required in small quantities for optimum plant growth) also. These include copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, boron, chlorine and cobalt. Starter fertilizer is usually added to the soil before the seed is planted to provide nutrients to feed a healthy seedling. As the cotton plant grows, its nutrient requirement is monitored and any additions needed are applied. Insect pests have plagued the cotton growing industry over the years and they are a source of constant concern to growers. Insects such as aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly, and pink bollworms cause serious destruction to the cotton plants' squares, bolls, leaves, and fiber resulting in a monetary loss to the cotton grower. The pink bollworm is responsible for the most cotton damage and has been found in all of the cotton producing countries, including the United States. The spread of this pest is being held in check by plowing cotton stalks under more than 6 inches deep immediately after harvest to remove overwintering habitat. There are also beneficial insects or predator insects that feed on various

insect pests. Most growers use the services of a crop consultant to monitor their fields for insect pest populations and advise them on treatment. If the insect pest population increases to a level that may severely affect the field's production potential, the grower may then be advised to use an insecticide. These products may be applied by a ground application vehicle specially designed to avoid damaging the cotton plants. Airplanes and/or helicopters are used for air applications, flown low over the field by trained pilots to deliver their load. A method of insect pest control being practiced on a limited basis is called integrated pest management (I.P.M.). This method coordinates the use of insecticides and the dispersal of beneficial insects purchased to aid in suppressing unwanted insects. Research is being done to find insects to control a wider spectrum of insect pests, a limiting factor of effectiveness in today's I.P.M. practices. Pest management in cotton production today contributes a substantial share of the costs involved in raising a crop. The cotton farmer is reluctant to treat weed and insect pests unless absolutely necessary to protect crop yield potential. The correct decisions and timing of both irrigations and pest control measures is an ally to a grower's success as he/she guides their crop to maturity. When enough bolls have opened naturally, harvest aids are applied to the plant to help speed up the maturation process. This, also, is done either by ground or air application. Defoliation helps the leaves to dry and fall off and to help any of the remaining unopened cotton bolls to open. This practice enables the grower to hasten the opening of the cotton bolls which can then be gathered quickly, in a short period of time. It is essential that the crop is harvested before weather and rain can damage or ruin its quality and reduce yield. Frost also causes the plant to shed its leaves naturally and assists in splitting bolls, but may occur too late in the season to benefit harvest. Now the cotton crop is ready to be harvested. For centuries cotton has been picked by hand. Hand picking is done in the less progressive cotton growing regions of the world. It is very inefficient and no longer practiced in modernized countries. As the mechanical cotton picker moves through the field, the cotton plants are guided through the picker head. The seed cotton, or locks, in the bur encounter revolving barbed spindles attached to a picking bar (a vertical bar that contains 18 to 20 spindles) attached to a rotating drum. The locks are grabbed by the barbed spindle and pulled from its bur. The rotating drum then moves the picking bar toward the doffer. A doffer is a series of curricular, rubber lined pads, stacked 18 to 20 high, which remove cotton from the spindle. The seed cotton and spindles pass through the doffer where the cotton is removed or doffed from the spindle to fall to the picker door. An air vacuum created by a fan then sucks the cotton away from the door and blows it into the basket. The spindle now continues on its rotation passing through the moistener pads where they are lubricated to assist in cleaning them. This sequence repeats itself continually while the cotton is being picked. Spindle type cotton pickers harvest most of the cotton grown in the United States.

In some areas of the Cotton Belt, brush strippers are used to harvest seed cotton. These machines remove bolls and burs from the plant with rotating brushes and bats. Material is fed into a field cleaner where much of the burs and sticks are removed and blown into a large basket. They are used primarily in dryland farming cotton areas in Texas where the cotton plant varieties are more compact in stature. Small plant size is important when using a stripper because they tend to accumulate more trash in their harvested product. Todays modern cotton harvesters can cover up to 6 to 8 rows at a time and can harvest up to 190,000 pounds of seed cotton a day. These new cotton harvesters are a major improvement over the hand methods of the past.

APPLICATION
Cotton fiber is a versatile fibre which has wide variety of uses. But the Cotton fibre is mostly used on the Apparel Industry to make the wearing cloth like: Sarees Sweaters Skirts Shirts Swimwear Kids wear Blouses Pants Hosiery

AREA OF CULTIVATION
Successful cultivation of cotton requires a long frost-free period, plenty of sunshine, and a moderate rainfall, usually from 600 to 1200 mm (24 to 48 inches). Soils usually need to be fairly heavy, although the level of nutrients does not need to be exceptional. In general, these conditions are met within the seasonally dry tropics and subtropics in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but a large proportion of the cotton grown today is cultivated in areas with less rainfall that obtain the water from irrigation. Production of the crop for a given year usually starts soon after harvesting the preceding autumn. Planting time in spring in the Northern hemisphere varies from the beginning of February to the beginning of June. The area of the United States known as the South Plains is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world. While dry land (non-irrigated) cotton is successfully grown in this region, consistent yields are only produced with heavy reliance on irrigation water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer. Since cotton is somewhat salt and drought tolerant, this characteristic makes it an attractive crop for arid and semiarid regions. As water resources get tighter around

the world, economies that rely on it face difficulties and conflict, as well as potential environmental problems.For example, improper cropping and irrigation practices have led to desertification in areas of Uzbekistan, where cotton is a major export. In the days of the Soviet Union, the Aral Sea was tapped for agricultural irrigation, largely of cotton, and now salination is widespread.

VARIETIES IN THE COTTON FIBRE

Cotton is an annual species of plant. The substance used to produce cotton yarn is a vegetable fibre which grows in the seed pod. Its tubular layer structure means that it can absorb and release moisture quickly. The term 'cotton boll' = the seed pod + the cotton fibre. There are three basic cotton varieties: Fine high lustre fibre with staples 3 - 6.5cm long which is best quality and includes: Sea Island (grown in West Indies, Central America, Mexico) Egyptian Sudanese Peruvian American Pima Eastern African Medium fibre with staples 2 - 3cm long and includes: American Upland (most of USA production) Short dull coarse fibre with staples 1 - 2 cm long: Indian Chinese There a number of cotton fabric types. The most common are: broderie anglaise; buckram; calico; candlewick; canvas; chintz; corduroy; denim; dimity; duck; flannelette; fustian; gauze; gingham; lawn; moleskin; muslin; organdie; pique; poplin; sateen; seersucker; towelling; velour; velveteen; voile; winceyette.

IMPORTANCE OF COTTON
Today, the world uses more cotton than any other fiber, and cotton is a leading cash crop in the U.S. At the farm level alone, the production of each years crop involves the purchase of more than $5.3 billion worth of supplies and services. This stimulates business activities for factories and enterprises throughout the country. Processing and handling of cotton after it leaves the farm generates even more business activity.

Cotton is a part of our daily lives from the time we dry our faces on a soft cotton towel in the morning until we slide between fresh cotton sheets at night. It has hundreds of uses, from blue jeans to shoe strings. Clothing and household items are the largest uses, but industrial products account from many thousands of bales. All parts of the cotton plant are useful. The most important is the fiber or lint, which is used in making cotton cloth. Linters the short fuzz on the seed provide cellulose for making plastics, explosives and other products. Linters also are incorporated into high quality paper products and processed into batting for padding mattresses, furniture and automobile cushions. The cottonseed is crushed in order to separate its three products oil, meal and hulls. Cottonseed oil is used primarily for shortening, cooking oil and salad dressing. The meal and hulls that remain are used either separately or in combination as livestock, poultry and fish feed and as fertilizer. The stalks and leaves of the cotton plant are plowed under to enrich the soil.

PROPERTIES OF COTTON

Comfortable: Cotton fiber has large amorphous portion and this is why the air can be in and out through cotton fiber. So, the fabric made by cotton fiber is quite comfortable to use.

Soft Hand: Cotton fiber is too much regular fiber and if properly ginned; this fibre can be the best soft hand feeling fibre amongst the others. Absorbent: Cotton fiber has high absorbency power and this is why this fiber can be died properly and without any harassment. Good Color Retention: If the printing is applied on cotton fiber, it seems it doesnt spread the color outside the design. So printing efficiency is good on cotton fibre. Machine Washable & Dry Cleanable: It is seen that some fibers cant be dried or washed due to its sensitivity and weak fastness properties but in case of Cotton fiber you will have large number of options to choose. You can easily wash the cotton made fabric by machines and even you will be able to dry this fiber by using electronic drier.

Good Strength: If you want to seek an average strength which might be enough for you; then cotton fiber can be your ultimate choice. The strength of cotton fiber is quite good. Cotton Fibre Drapes Well: The drape-ability of cotton fibre is awesome. You can use the cotton fibre made fabric in any kind of wear which needs more flexibility and drapes.

Sewing & Handling Is Easy: The sewing efficiency on Cotton made fabric is easier and comfortable than other fiber. This is why the demand of cotton made fabric is higher in all over the world.

COTTON EXPORT STATISTICS

Source: DGCIS

DOMESTIC TRADE STATISTICS

Cotton Production and Balance sheet Area in lakh hectare/Production & Arrival in lakh bales of 170 kg each

RESEARCH

New instrumentation to measure cotton contamination. Cotton linters to replace the traditional 100% wood pulp fibers for producing absorbent cores for disposable diapers and famine pads. New quality measurements of small sample cotton are being developed.

Cotton is being blended with kenaf fibers to improve the softness and hand. Buckeye Technologies has developed 100% natural cotton for tampon manufacture. Clustering analysis is developed for cotton trash classification. New method to improve the dye ability of cotton with reactive dyes.

DEVELOPEMENT
COLORED COTTON

Cotton fiber is dyed with chemical dyes in order to get wide range of colors. These chemical dyes and their finishing demands large amount of water in turn when these water is disposed they cause soil and water pollution. Many dyes are of chemical origin; particularly the azure ones and these are not environment friendly. Hence many countries, including India, have prohibited use of these dyes. The negative effects of dyeing can be reduced by naturally colored cotton. This colored cotton is developed by gene transplantation. Crossing the genes from wild cotton varieties with the cultivated white ones develops this colored cotton. The research is being conducted at The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad Karnataka India, to promote the cultivation of natural colored cotton. The colors that have been developed are White, Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, Brown, Blue, And Black. These negative effects of dyeing can be avoided by extensive research and growth of colored cotton.

BT COTTON

Cotton requires severe pesticide in order to combat numerous pests after some years of use of pesticide by farmers these pests develop resistance to Particular pesticide. This resistance force farmers to use more amounts of pesticides. BT Cotton is developed by transgenic technique of implanting Bacillus Thuringiens bacterial gene in to cottonseeds, which makes the cotton plant and seeds resistant to majority of pests including bollworm (A. Lepidoptera), Tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens). Bt cotton is now one of the most widely used transgenic crops. It is currently grown throughout the United States. More than 2 million acres of Bt cotton are grown in the United States alone. Other countries include China, India, and Australia. (34) According to Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona. Bt cotton planted from 1996 to 1998 is estimated to have yielded 5% more on average than if traditional and decreased the quantity of foliar spray.

LIMITATIONS
Cotton wrinkles unless treated. Susceptible to mildew and strong acids. May scorch

REFERENCES
http://www.texmin.nic.in/sector/COTTON%20SEASON%202011.pdf http://www.texmin.nic.in/ermiu/cotarrival.pdf