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Cotton is a perennial crop in the tropics, and without defoliation or freezing, the plant will continue to grow. Cotton continues to be picked by hand in developing countries [88] and in Xinjiang, China, allegedly by forced labor. [89] Xinjiang produces over 20% of the world's cotton. [90]
By the 1950s, after many years of development, the mechanical cotton picker had become effective enough to be commercially viable, and it quickly gained appeal and affordability throughout the U.S. cotton growing area. [22] The cotton industry in the United States hit a crisis in the early 1920s. Cotton and tobacco prices collapsed in 1920 ...
These are 20% protein, 20% oil and 3.5% starch. Fibers grow from the seed coat to form a boll of cotton lint. The boll is a protective fruit and when the plant is grown commercially, it is stripped from the seed by ginning and the lint is then processed into cotton fibre. For unit weight of fibre, about 1.6 units of seeds are produced.
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine" [1] [2] —is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. [3] The separated seeds may be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil .
Gossypium hirsutum, also known as upland cotton or Mexican cotton, is the most widely planted species of cotton in the world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production is of cultivars derived from this species. [2] In the United States, the world's largest exporter of cotton, it constitutes approximately 95% of all cotton production.
This cotton, known as upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), could be grown successfully in the interior uplands. Short-staple cotton became the prime commodity crop of the developing Deep South, and King Cotton was the basis of southern wealth in the antebellum years. This cotton in the early 21st century represents about 95% of U.S. production.
Natural color in cotton comes from pigments found in cotton; these pigments can produce shades ranging from tan to green and brown. [3] Naturally pigmented green cotton derives its color from caffeic acid, a derivative of cinnamic acid, found in the suberin (wax) layer which is deposited in alternating layers with cellulose around the outside of the cotton fiber.
It is ovoid or oblong in shape and glabrous (i.e. hairless). The surface is pitted and a beak is present at the terminal end. The seeds within are globular and are covered in long white cotton. [3] Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta, locally known as "Phuti karpas", was the variant used to make Dhaka muslin in Bengal, now Bangladesh. [4]