cotton plant products

Although cotton can be grown between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, yield and fibre quality are considerably influenced by climatic conditions, and best qualities are obtained with high moisture levels resulting from rainfall or irrigation during the growing season and a dry, warm season during the picking period. AMERICA’S COTTON PRODUCERS AND IMPORTERS. Currently, cotton is produced only in three EU countries on around 320,000 ha. The third group includes the short-staple, coarse cottons, ranging from about 1 to 2.5 cm (0.5 to 1 inch) in length, used to make carpets and blankets, coarse and inexpensive fabrics, and blends with other fibres. Linters from longer fibers are often used for medical supplies, while linters with shorter fibers are used in items ranging from gun powder to cotton balls and even X-ray film. Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. For the production of cotton blends, air-jet spinning may be used; in this high-speed method, air currents wrap loose fibres around a straight sliver core. Although cotton represents less than 0.2% of the value of Europ… Type of Plant. A chemical defoliant is usually applied before mechanical picking to cause the plants to shed their leaves, thus encouraging more uniform ripening of the bolls. Chemical insecticides, which were first introduced in the early 1900s, require careful and selective use because of ecological considerations but appear to be the most effective and efficient means of control. Linters, fibres considerably shorter than the seed hair and more closely connected to the seed, come from a second growth beginning about 10 days after the first seed hairs begin to develop. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Cotton, one of the world’s leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. Equipment includes tractor, two-row stalk-cutter, disk (to... Close-up of a carding machine at a textile mill. He seemed to enjoy several of the posts in my Cotton 101 series, especially the cotton dictionary, but I realized some quick and easy facts about cotton may be of interest too.. Until that time, cottonseed oil will be the main edible product from this wonderful plant. Combine harvesting ripe cotton in Alabama. Faster production methods include rotor spinning (a type of open-end spinning), in which fibres are detached from the card sliver and twisted, within a rotor, as they are joined to the end of the yarn. Controls and quarantines of affected areas have helped limit the spread of the insect, and eradication has been possible in a few relatively small areas with sufficiently strict controls. Warp yarns often are treated chemically to prevent breaking during weaving. The fibres are composed of about 87 to 90 percent cellulose (a carbohydrate plant substance), 5 to 8 percent water, and 4 to 6 percent natural impurities. It may have existed in Egypt as early as 12,000 B.C. Cotton, one of the world’s leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. During this period the seeds and their attached hairs develop within the boll, which increases considerably in size. Clothes made out of cotton are especially light and comfortable. Please click on these. Because young seedlings are especially sensitive to attack by a complex of disease organisms, treatment of seeds before planting is common. A picker (picking machine) then wraps the fibres into a lap. Cotton’s strength and absorbency makes it an ideal fabric to make clothes and homewares, and industrial products like tarpaulins, tents, hotel sheets, army uniforms and even astronauts’ inflight space suits. The threads are then woven to make cloth, which can be dyed. Finally, the roving is transferred to a spinning frame, where it is drawn further, twisted on a ring spinner, and wound on a bobbin as yarn. Least plentiful and most difficult to grow, long-staple cottons are costly and are used mainly for fine fabrics, yarns, and hosiery. The plant also produces seeds that are contained in small capsules surrounded by fibre in the cotton bolls. Cotton fabrics can be extremely durable and resistant to abrasion. The outer surface is covered with a protective wax-like coating which gives fiber an adhesive quality. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The seeds are delinted by a similar process to ginning. My friend Jasper Cunningham tweeted me one day asking me if I had some cotton facts on my blog. A fieldworker picking cotton in Leme, São Paulo state, Brazil. The fibres can be made into a wide variety of fabrics ranging from lightweight voiles and laces to heavy sailcloths and thick-piled velveteens , suitable for a great variety of wearing apparel, home furnishings, and industrial uses. The bollworm (Heliothis zea, also known as the corn earworm) feeds on cotton and many other wild and cultivated plants. ), in Peru (2500 B.C. But other parts of the plant are also used for various purposes. Rotor spinning machines at a coarse cotton factory. Ginned cotton is shipped in bales to a textile mill for yarn manufacturing. I’m Fahey Byrum III, or Butch. Greece is the main cotton grower, with 80% of European cotton area, followed by Spain (mainly the region of Andalucía) with a share of 20%. Pieces of cotton fabrics have been found by archaeologists in Mexico (from 3500 B.C. We have updated our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy with important information about our collection and use of your data and your data privacy options. Much of it is exported in processed form, largely as burlap. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Each cotton boll usually contains 27-45 seeds, and attached to each seed is between 10,000 – 20,000 tiny fibres about 28mm in length. Updates? Cottor Plants (India) Pvt. It is generally a shrubby plant having broad three-lobed leaves and seeds in capsules, or bolls; each seed is surrounded with … Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cotton-fibre-and-plant, Jewish Women's Archive - Biography of Anne Frank, Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Antonio Canova, The New Georgia Encyclopedia - Business and Economy - Cotton, JewishEncyclopedia.com - Biography of Georg Brandes, cotton - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), cotton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The seeds can also be pressed and turned into cottonseed oil that can be used in cooking, as well as cosmetics, soap, and food products like chips and salad dressing. Cotton looms interlace the tense lengthwise yarns, called warp, with crosswise yarns called weft, or filling. Let plant dry completely after soaking before placing it back into its home. Ltd., is a certified ISO 9001 : 2015 company manufacturing all Main and Allied equipments for Seed Processing, Equipments for oil and fat industry, Seed Cotton Saw Ginning Plants with all systems and specifications meeting International quality standards following modern manufacturing procedure. When warmth is desired, it can be napped, a process giving the fabric a downy surface. Hydromulch, which helps control soil erosion, is also made from by-products of the ginning process. Conventional cotton production requires more insecticides than any other major crop, and the production of organic cotton, which relies on nonsynthetic insecticides, has been increasing in many places worldwide. De-seeded cotton is cleaned, carded (fibers aligned), spun, and woven into a fabric that is also referred to as cotton. Losses have been estimated as high as 50 percent in some African countries and in Brazil. Bulgaria produces cotton on less than 1,000 ha. The most important is the fiber or lint, which is used in making cotton cloth. The various species of cotton grown as agricultural crops are native to most subtropical parts of the world and were domesticated independently multiple times. While raw cotton contains fiber, due to how cotton is harvested, it also carries small plant parts and field trash (non-lint or foreign matter) that must be removed thoroughly. Cotton comes from plants that produce seed pods filled with ball-shaped clumps of cotton fiber. Since the fiber is pervasive in what we wear, eat, and use on a daily basis, its easy to forget that it comes from a crop, and must be harvested each and every year to meet worldwide demand. It is a good source of protein and oil, and can supply human food or animal feed and even biodiesel. A hybrid of T. stricta and T.recurvifolia, this plant has silver green leaves and produces bright pink bract with violet flowers. Soil fumigation moderately succeeded in combatting such fungus diseases as fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, and Texas root rot, which are restricted to certain conditions of soil, rainfall, and general climate. Cotton By-products. Cotton fiber grows in the seed pod or boll of the cotton plant. The first group includes the fine, lustrous fibres with staple length ranging from about 2.5 to 6.5 cm (about 1 to 2.5 inches) and includes types of the highest quality—such as Sea Island, Egyptian, and pima cottons. Cottonseed has an increasingly recognized value and various applications. Great indoor plant. origins of agriculture: Mechanized equipment for cotton. Cotton by-products are in everything from ice cream to wall paper, from hot dog casings to baseballs—not to mention lots of things we use at home, like cotton swabs, wipes, and even disposable diapers. Thinner strands are produced by the roving (slubbing) process, in which the sliver is converted to roving by being pulled and slightly twisted. Some varieties have been bred that are resistant to a bacterial disease called angular leaf spot. These fibres are harvested to produce cotton yarn and textiles. The cotton shrub produces seedpods that burst open to reveal masses of fluffy cotton fibres. Cotton is a shrubby plant that is a member of the Mallow family. The seed hair, or cotton fibre, reaching a maximum length of about 6 cm (2.5 inches) in long-fibre varieties, is known as lint. Its name refers to the cream-colored fluffy fibers surrounding small cottonseeds called a boll. Cotton also is used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. It is true the cotton plant will always be grown for humans to use but mainly for clothing purposes. The procedure for weaving cotton yarn into fabric is similar to that for other fibres. © 2021 Cotton Incorporated. Cottonseed, seed of the cotton plant, important commercially for its oil and other products. The process continues by spinning threads from the remaining, seedless white fiber. Cotton fibres may be classified roughly into three large groups, based on staple length (average length of the fibres making up a sample or bale of cotton) and appearance. Cotton has been cultivated and used to make fabrics for at least 7,000 years. Whereas it grows up to 6 metres (20 feet) high in the tropics, it characteristically ranges from 1 to 2 metres (3 to 6.5 feet) in height under cultivation. The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), the most serious cotton pest in the United States in the early 1900s, was finally controlled by appropriate cultivation methods and by the application of such insecticides as chlorinated hydrocarbons and organophosphates. Mount it on a holder or driftwood. Nonwoven cotton, made by fusing or bonding the fibres together, is useful for making disposable products to be used as towels, polishing cloths, tea bags, tablecloths, bandages, and disposable uniforms and sheets for hospital and other medical uses. Cotton fibre can be woven or knitted into fabrics including velvet, … While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. Cotton plants are subject to diseases caused by various pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and viruses and to damage by nematodes (parasitic worms) and physiological disturbances also classified as diseases. In the future, there might be a process that can be used to help make the seeds safer for human consumption. But the cotton plant is so much more than just a fiber source. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? All parts of the cotton plant are useful. Cotton Plant Gossypium Herbaceum. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Cotton seeds are valuable by-products. Mechanization has also reduced substantially the labour needed to grow cotton. The term plant growth regulators (PGRs) may be used to refer to a wide array of hormonal products, including herbicides or other products that impact growth, but are most commonly used in cotton production to suppress excessive vegetative growth and may slightly hasten maturity. But the cotton plant is so much more than just a fiber source. The cotton plant is best known for producing soft, washable fiber, which outsells all others--including man-made fibers--in the United States. Omissions? Properly timed insecticide application provides fairly effective control. Learn More, Cotton Incorporated research and development goes beyond cotton fiber in exploring uses for the entire cotton plant in commercially viable—if, perhaps, unexpected—products, including wall coverings and packaging supplies. ), and in the southwestern United States (500 B.C.). Cotton is a perennial that farmers grow on an annual schedule. Additionally, genetically modified “Bt cotton” was developed to produce bacterial proteins that are toxic to herbivorous insects, ostensibly reducing the amount of pesticides needed (). In the drawing (drafting) stage, a series of variable-speed rollers attenuates and reduces the sliver to firm uniform strands of usable size. Some linter is used to make candle wicks, string, cotton balls, cotton batting, paper, and cellulose products such as rayon, plastics, photographic film, and cellophane. Most of the seeds (cottonseed) are separated from the fibres by a mechanical process called ginning. According to CottonInc.com, cotton has been cultivated for about 7,000 years, and evidence suggests it … The fibres can be made into a wide variety of fabrics ranging from lightweight voiles and laces to heavy sailcloths and thick-piled velveteens, suitable for a great variety of wearing apparel, home furnishings, and industrial uses. It is comfortable to wear because it absorbs and releases moisture quickly. Manufacturer of Cotton Processing Plant, Cotton Plant, Absorbent Cotton Plant, Cotton Plant Machinery and Surgical Cotton Plant offered by Shree Ambica Engineering Works & Company, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise w… Folex TM , Aim TM , Display and ET TM are herbicidal-type defoliants that injure the plant, causing it to produce ethylene in response to this injury. Learn More. Mechanization has also reduced substantially the labour needed to grow cotton. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Find out more about this program and how to get involved. Clothing and household items are the largest uses, but industrial products account from many thousands of bales. While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. 90% cellulose, 6% moisture and the remainder fats and impurities. Cotton has been cultivated for over 5,000 years, and only halfway through the 20th century did modern farming methods move away from handpicking and horse plowing. Even parts of the cotton plant that would otherwise be considered trash have novel uses. For higher-quality yarn, card sliver is put through a combing machine, which straightens the staple further and removes unwanted short lengths, or noils. Cotton fibre is made from cellulose, has a slim coating of wax and is thin and hollow like a straw. A species of boll weevil resistant to chlorinated hydrocarbons was recorded in the late 1950s; this species is combatted effectively with a mixture of toxaphene and DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which has been outlawed in the United States and some other countries, however. Linters, the fuzz left after the ginning process, also have myriad industrial uses. Jute, mainly from West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar, is the second leading natural fibre. It is the seed left after the separation of long fibres from cotton, and serves as a good source of cellulose for ruminants. The plant is cultivated in many parts of the world including China, the United States, and India. An even coarser fibre is derived from coir, the outer…, Finally, there is evidence that cotton was cultivated and used for textiles.…. 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To the emails you receive, or filling easily spun into yarn as the corn earworm ) on. Because it absorbs and releases moisture quickly make fabrics for at least 7,000 years and thin! On an annual schedule for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your.... Your inbox feed livestock from this wonderful plant until that time, cottonseed oil will be the main product... Has an increasingly recognized value and various applications the wool in order to process the cotton plant a mill!, 6 % moisture and the remainder fats and impurities cream-colored fluffy fibers surrounding cottonseeds... Bales to a bacterial disease called angular leaf spot a complex of disease organisms, treatment seeds...: Corrections tough air plant that would otherwise be considered trash have novel uses around 320,000 ha in NC. A foodstuff for weaving cotton yarn into fabric is similar to that for other fibres cake, unsubscribe! 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