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Cotton fields in the United States. The United States exports more cotton than any other country, though it ranks third in total production, behind China and India. [1] Almost all of the cotton fiber growth and production occurs in the Southern United States and the Western United States, dominated by Texas, California, Arizona, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
No cotton is grown there today. Cotton ready for shipment, Houston, Texas (postcard, circa 1911) Cotton modules in Australia (2007) Round cotton modules in Australia (2014) Successful cultivation of cotton requires a long frost-free period, plenty of sunshine, and a moderate rainfall, usually from 50 to 100 cm (19.5 to 39.5 in).
Harvesting raw cotton is a resource intensive process that uses a lot of water, energy, and chemicals. [7] Cotton recycling mitigates wastage and can be a more sustainable alternative to disposal because products can be made out of existing textiles instead of raw materials, therefore, reducing the resources required to harvest raw cotton. [7]
The first harvesters were only capable of harvesting one row of cotton at a time, but were still able to replace up to forty hand laborers. The current cotton picker is a self-propelled machine that removes cotton lint and seed (seed-cotton) from the plant at up to six rows at a time. There are two types of pickers in use today.
King Cotton in Modern America: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945 (2010) excerpt; Riello, Giorgio. Cotton: The Fabric that Made the Modern World (2015) excerpt; Riello, Giorgio. How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles, 1500–1850 (2013) Yafa, Stephen (2006). Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary ...
A cotton ball. Cotton is a significant cash crop. According to the National Cotton Council of America, in 2014, China was the world's largest cotton-producing country with an estimated output of about one hundred million 480-pound bales. [1] A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit.
The longer a crop's harvest period, the more efficient plantations become. Economies of scale are also achieved when the distance to market is long. Plantation crops usually need processing immediately after harvesting. Sugarcane, tea, sisal, and palm oil are most suited to plantations, while coconuts, rubber, and cotton are suitable to a ...
Naturally colored Cotton is still relatively rare because it requires specialized harvest techniques and facilities, making it more expensive to harvest than white cotton. By the 1990s, most indigenous colored cotton landraces or cultivars grown in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America were replaced by all-white, commercial varieties.