The cake, or meal, remaining after the oil is extracted is used in poultry and livestock feeds. A traditional and still common processing method is ring spinning, by which the mass of cotton may be subjected to opening and cleaning, picking, carding, combing, drawing, roving, and spinning. Because young seedlings are especially sensitive to attack by a complex of disease organisms, treatment of seeds before planting is common. 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. Socks, underwear, and most T-shirts are made from cotton. Cotton comes from plants that produce seed pods filled with ball-shaped clumps of cotton fiber. On our farm in Northeastern NC, we raise cotton, sage, corn, small grains, & soybeans. The procedure for weaving cotton yarn into fabric is similar to that for other fibres. Mechanization has also reduced substantially the labour needed to grow cotton. 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. Although cotton represents less than 0.2% of the value of Europ… Equipment includes tractor, two-row stalk-cutter, disk (to shred the stalks), bedder (to shape the soil into ridges or seedbeds), planter, cultivator, sprayer, and harvester. De-seeded cotton is cleaned, carded (fibers aligned), spun, and woven into a fabric that is also referred to as cotton. The pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), originally reported in India in 1842, has spread throughout the cotton-producing countries, causing average annual crop losses of up to 25 percent in, for example, India, Egypt, China, and Brazil. Mount it on a holder or driftwood. 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. My friend Jasper Cunningham tweeted me one day asking me if I had some cotton facts on my blog. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. It is generally a shrubby plant having broad three-lobed leaves and seeds in capsules, or bolls; each seed is surrounded with … Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. The various species of cotton grown as agricultural crops are native to most subtropical parts of the world and were domesticated independently multiple times. Additionally, genetically modified “Bt cotton” was developed to produce bacterial proteins that are toxic to herbivorous insects, ostensibly reducing the amount of pesticides needed (). 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.. Clothing and household items are the largest uses, but industrial products account from many thousands of bales. Jute, mainly from West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar, is the second leading natural fibre. The cotton bale is opened, and its fibres are raked mechanically to remove foreign matter (e.g., soil and seeds). Cottor Plants (India) Pvt. All parts of the cotton plant are useful. Whole cottonseed leads to high production of milk and fat … Within 80–100 days after planting, the plant develops white blossoms, which change to a reddish colour. Two-thirds of the weight of the seed cotton (i.e., the seed with the adhering seed hair) consists of the seeds. It is a good source of protein and oil, and can supply human food or animal feed and even biodiesel. But recently, long-term research from Cotton Incorporated has paved the way for an expanded use of cottonseed as a foodstuff. Cotton By-products. Omissions? Limited control of damage by insect pests can be achieved by proper timing of planting and other cultural practices or by selective breeding of varieties having some resistance to insect damage. Cotton is a plant that produces fibers, which are used to make clothes and other products, like towels, carpets or sheets. A fieldworker picking cotton in Leme, São Paulo state, Brazil. © 2021 Cotton Incorporated. 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. 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. Cotton also is used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. origins of agriculture: Mechanized equipment for cotton. Various finishing processes have been developed to make cotton resistant to stains, water, and mildew; to increase resistance to wrinkling, thus reducing or eliminating the need for ironing; and to reduce shrinkage in laundering to not more than 1 percent. Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. 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. ), in Peru (2500 B.C. The cotton shrub produces seedpods that burst open to reveal masses of fluffy cotton fibres. While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. The fertilized blossoms fall off after a few days and are replaced by small green triangular pods, called bolls, that mature after a period of 55–80 days. 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 is easily spun into yarn as the cotton fibe… Author: Scott Stewart, IPM Extension Specialist Comments Off on Cotton Defoliation – Defoliation Products Defoliants can be categorized as having either herbicidal or hormonal activity. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Great indoor plant. The plant is cultivated in many parts of the world including China, the United States, and India. A picker (picking machine) then wraps the fibres into a lap. 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. The process continues by spinning threads from the remaining, seedless white fiber. The bollworm (Heliothis zea, also known as the corn earworm) feeds on cotton and many other wild and cultivated plants. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise w… Hydromulch, which helps control soil erosion, is also made from by-products of the ginning process. Service Marks / Trademarks of Cotton Incorporated. 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. While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. Ginned cotton is shipped in bales to a textile mill for yarn manufacturing. In the drawing (drafting) stage, a series of variable-speed rollers attenuates and reduces the sliver to firm uniform strands of usable size. Learn More. Cotton fabrics can be extremely durable and resistant to abrasion. The blossoms develop into seedpods, or bolls. Cotton is a shrubby plant that is a member of the Mallow family. These include terrycloth for highly absorbent bath towels and robes; denim for blue jeans; cambric, popularly used in the manufacture of blue work shirts (from which we get the term "blue-collar"); and corduroy, seersucker, and cotton twill. The most important is the fiber or lint, which is used in making cotton cloth. The Tillandsia 'Cotton Candy' is a tough air plant that is easy to care for. ), in India (3000 B.C. The small, sticky seeds must be separated from the wool in order to process the cotton for spinning and weaving. Combine harvesting ripe cotton in Alabama. Cotton seeds are valuable by-products. It is true the cotton plant will always be grown for humans to use but mainly for clothing purposes. But the cotton plant is so much more than just a fiber source. Clothes made out of cotton are especially light and comfortable. Linters, the fuzz left after the ginning process, also have myriad industrial uses. The seeds are delinted by a similar process to ginning. These fibres are harvested to produce cotton yarn and textiles. Cotton is attacked by several hundred species of insects, including such harmful species as the boll weevil, pink bollworm, cotton leafworm, cotton fleahopper, cotton aphid, rapid plant bug, conchuela, southern green stinkbug, spider mites (red spiders), grasshoppers, thrips, and tarnished plant bugs. Most of the seeds (cottonseed) are separated from the fibres by a mechanical process called ginning. It is the seed left after the separation of long fibres from cotton, and serves as a good source of cellulose for ruminants. Type of Plant. Todays cutting-edge machin… Glyphosate-resistant cotton, which can tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, was also developed through genetic engineering. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. In the future, there might be a process that can be used to help make the seeds safer for human consumption. Handpicking, carried out over a period of several days, allows selection of the mature and opened bolls, so that a higher yield is possible. Equipment includes tractor, two-row stalk-cutter, disk (to... Close-up of a carding machine at a textile mill. According to CottonInc.com, cotton has been cultivated for about 7,000 years, and evidence suggests it … Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Punjab are the principal cotton-growing states. Cottonseed oil is used in salad and cooking oils and, after hydrogenation, in shortenings and margarine. What Cotton is Used For Every part of the cotton plant can be used. The outer surface is covered with a protective wax-like coating which gives fiber an adhesive quality. The Cotton Plant is an unusual plant to grow. Least plentiful and most difficult to grow, long-staple cottons are costly and are used mainly for fine fabrics, yarns, and hosiery. Linters – the short fuzz on the seed – provide cellulose for making plastics, explosives and other products. The second group contains the standard medium-staple cotton, such as American Upland, with staple length from about 1.3 to 3.3 cm (0.5 to 1.3 inches). The cotton plant belongs to the genus Gossypium of the family Malvaceae (mallow family); the same family as hollyhock, okra and hibiscus. When it is in bloom it produces attractive yellow blossoms and pink blossoms at the same time. 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. Cotton, one of the world’s leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. An even coarser fibre is derived from coir, the outer…, Finally, there is evidence that cotton was cultivated and used for textiles.…. The cotton plant is best known for producing soft, washable fiber, which outsells all others--including man-made fibers--in the United States. Updates? 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. 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. 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. I’m Fahey Byrum III, or Butch. Cotton fiber grows in the seed pod or boll of the cotton plant. 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. Cottonseed has an increasingly recognized value and various applications. Cotton Plant Gossypium Herbaceum. Bulgaria produces cotton on less than 1,000 ha. Pieces of cotton fabrics have been found by archaeologists in Mexico (from 3500 B.C. Much of it is exported in processed form, largely as burlap. Cotton is an arable crop used mainly for fibre. 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). Mechanization has also reduced substantially the labour needed to grow cotton. 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. The cottonseed, which remains after cotton is ginned, is used to produce oil for human consumption and oilseed cake for animal feed. From 3500 B.C. ) grows in the future, there might be a process that can be or... Grow, long-staple cottons are costly and are used as a high-quality feed cows! 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