How Can I Organically Grow Cotton? Cotton farming is probably something you’re interested in (obviously when you are here). But you probably don’t know where to begin or how to proceed. I’ve compiled all of the information I could find on how to grow cotton and get started in cotton farming.
If we take a moment to reflect, we will notice that cotton ranks very high among materials, particularly in terms of affordability, variety, and availability. Cotton is used in the production of most underwear, T-shirts, socks, shirts, pants, and jackets, as well as in the production of towels, sheets, rugs, and furniture. It is difficult to imagine a world without abundant supplies of this material.
How Can I Organically Grow Cotton?
Although cotton is a universal material in the textile industry, its quality can vary and it plays a very important and slightly hidden role in international trade, so it should not be taken for granted. We will provide a brief overview of cotton’s essential characteristics, history, method of origin, farming cotton, and production.
History of Cotton:
Cotton has been grown for over 7000 years and is one of the most important crops for fibre production. It is a ball of soft, fluffy sorted fibre (pure cellulose). The plant is a shrub that is native to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including the Americas, Africa, and India. Cotton is grown as a one-year crop to control a variety of pests.
Cotton is, by far, the most important fibre for fabric production. To begin with, cotton is inexpensive, pliable, and easily threaded. It does not require special care, is well-washed, and lasts a long time. Cotton products were known as far back as 7000 years in India and Central America. When Europeans first saw cotton, they described it as a wool-like fibre. It was only available to the wealthy at the time due to its high cost. When Columbus set out to find a way to India, one of his objectives was to find cotton, among other valuables.
Cotton has also played an important role in the economic development of the United States of America. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented and patented the first modern cotton gin. Only his invention of the machine, however, resulted in the separation of seeds from the so-called white “ball,” resulting in increased profits.
Before the gin machine, one bale of cotton required 600 hours of labour to separate the seed and the ball. Gin reduced his workday to 12 hours, and as a result, cotton production in the United States nearly quadrupled, particularly between 1830 and 1850.
Organically Grow Cotton?
This created a dependency between agriculture and slavery, had a significant impact on the economy of the southern regions, and contributed to the success of northern traders, and it is this sequence of events that is considered an indirect cause of the Civil War.
During this time, the American South supplied two-thirds of the world’s cotton on the market and was blamed for sparking the Industrial Revolution that followed. Cotton remained the most important crop in the South after slavery was abolished, and manual labour became extinct in the 1950s with the introduction of full mechanisation.
Cotton is used in almost every country, but cultivation is limited to countries with warm, humid climates. India has the highest cotton production in the world, followed by the United States and China. Their soils are ideal for agriculture and cotton cultivation. The Southern states have traditionally harvested the most cotton in the United States. This area was once known as the “Cotton Belt,” because cotton was the most important cash crop from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
Long fibre or lint is most commonly used in the manufacture of clothing, and textiles for various applications, and threads, but it is also used in the paper, filter, and fishing net industries. Cotton wool, wicks, film strips, synthetic leather, plastic materials, and smokeless gunpowder are all made from short fibre or linter.
How is Cotton Produced?
Cotton bushes produce puffy white balls, which are still hand-picked in Egypt and India. Because the fibres are not treated the same way as when harvested by machine, the final product is of higher quality. After being harvested, they are honed to remove seeds, leaves, and twigs.
Following that, the fibres are picked and combined to remove the shorter fibres and straighten them. They are then placed in circular moulds to form the shape of a large yarn. In this state, the cotton is ready for weaving, and additional finishing steps can be taken to improve the weaving’s quality and durability.
What is unknown is that the cotton treatment production, weaving, and finishing processes are hazardous to the environment. Cotton is grown in many places where the natural amount of rain that falls annually is insufficient, and as a result, the industry is heavily reliant on irrigation and pesticides. Cotton fields use 25% of the world’s insecticides.
The vast majority of crops today are derived from genetically modified cotton seeds, indicating that significant efforts have been made to reduce pesticide use. The event’s logical outcome is the emergence of organic crops that do not use chemicals or genetically modified seeds.
Despite the negative effects of cotton production (for example, worker exploitation in Uzbekistan and salinization of land in the former Soviet Union), there are also positive aspects: cotton can be recycled and, if discarded as waste, will naturally decompose.
Cotton’s Morphological Properties:
Cotton has an extensive root system. The main root is spindly and penetrates the soil quickly. The stem is sturdy, upright, and branching. Cotton grows between 30 and 80 inches tall, depending on the variety, and perennial cotton can grow up to 235 inches tall. At the end of the growing season, it hardens and becomes tough. The leaf is straightforward and grows from the knuckle stem and shoots.
The plait is made up of 3 to 5 lobes that can vary in shape and colour, with some varieties having reddish undertones. The flower is bisexual and large. One or more of them emerge from the leaf armpit. The flowers are light yellow to cream in colour with one spot of red on the inside. The flower opens in the morning, closes the next day, and dies.
Cotton is a self-fertilizing plant with a high fertilisation rate of up to 50%. The fruit is round or ovoid in shape, with a pointed tip. It is made up of 3 to 5 nests that contain up to 9 irregular pear-shaped seeds with a pointed tip. A mature bullet shoots from top to bottom, erupting with a fibre. The weight of 1,000 seeds varies from 3 to 5 oz depending on the type and variety of cotton.
Cotton Advantages:
Cotton quality is primarily determined by the length of the yarn and the variety of plants from which the cotton was derived. Species names do not always indicate the country of origin, which is often not even mentioned during the final sales process. Cotton of the highest quality is used for marketing purposes. If you recall, Sea Island, Egyptian, and Pima cotton are all derived from the Gossypium barbadense plant and produce very long fibres as well as soft and silky fabric.
Features:
- Sea Island Cotton: Extra-long cotton that grows on the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, where the magic trio of sun, moisture, and rain creates ideal growing conditions.
- Island in the West Indian Sea Cotton: Under ideal conditions, cotton grows in the Caribbean. It is considered cotton cashmere and, in some cases, is even more expensive than cashmere. The product, like champagne in France, is protected by the World Trade Organization’s designation of origin. Despite the fact that it is an exceptional product, it appears that locals do little to protect it and continue to penetrate the market.
- Egyptian cotton is unrelated to the plant’s longest yarn, quality, or variety. This simply softens and increases the durability of the textiles, which are most commonly made of this type of cotton (sheets and quilts).
- Giza cotton: It is a subset of Egyptian cotton, and its quality is denoted by numbers such as 90, 89, and so on. The best Giza cotton is number 45, and it is distinguished by superior fineness and uniform fibres. It is grown in ideal conditions along the Nile River and is hand harvested and combed.
- Pima cotton was named after a Native American tribe in southwestern America who assisted in the breeding of Gossypium barbadense, an extra-long fibre species. Pima cotton accounts for about 5% of total production in the United States.
- Supima cotton: A shortened version of extra-quality Pima cotton that, unlike Pima cotton, refers to an organisation that promotes Pima cotton globally.
- Organic cotton is any cotton that has not been treated with pesticides or chemicals during the growing process. Organic production regulations are overseen by regulatory bodies in Japan, the European Union, and the United States.
