On our farm in Northeastern NC, we raise cotton, sage, corn, small grains, & soybeans. But the cotton plant is so much more than just a fiber source. The plant is cultivated in many parts of the world including China, the United States, and India. The seeds are separated from the cotton fiber mechanically. 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. 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. Least plentiful and most difficult to grow, long-staple cottons are costly and are used mainly for fine fabrics, yarns, and hosiery. A picker (picking machine) then wraps the fibres into a lap. 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. The cotton plant belongs to the genus Gossypium of the family Malvaceae (mallow family); the same family as hollyhock, okra and hibiscus. The blossoms develop into seedpods, or bolls. Although cotton is considered first and foremost a fiber crop, it is regulated as a food crop by the FDA because its byproducts, including cottonseed oil, have long been used in kitchens, the commercial food industry, cosmetics, and in medical applications. The outer surface is covered with a protective wax-like coating which gives fiber an adhesive quality. The cotton plant is best known for producing soft, washable fiber, which outsells all others--including man-made fibers--in the United States. Cotton, seed-hair fibre of several species of plants of the genus Gossypium, belonging to the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae). It is the seed left after the separation of long fibres from cotton, and serves as a good source of cellulose for ruminants. ), in India (3000 B.C. Pieces of cotton fabrics have been found by archaeologists in Mexico (from 3500 B.C. To avoid damage to the cotton by wind or rain, it is picked as soon as the bolls open, but since the bolls do not all reach maturity simultaneously, an optimum time is chosen for harvesting by mechanical means. 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. The Tillandsia 'Cotton Candy' is a tough air plant that is easy to care for. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Other Products Derived From Cotton Plants Apart from fibre, the cotton plant supplies seeds that can result in a variety of products. 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. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Cotton is a plant that produces fibers, which are used to make clothes and other products, like towels, carpets or sheets. The Cotton Plant is an unusual plant to grow. origins of agriculture: Mechanized equipment for cotton. A fieldworker picking cotton in Leme, São Paulo state, Brazil. Cotton is an arable crop used mainly for fibre. 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. Handpicking, carried out over a period of several days, allows selection of the mature and opened bolls, so that a higher yield is possible. 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. AMERICA’S COTTON PRODUCERS AND IMPORTERS. 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. Much of it is exported in processed form, largely as burlap. Type of Plant. ), in Peru (2500 B.C. Within 80–100 days after planting, the plant develops white blossoms, which change to a reddish colour. Most of the seeds (cottonseed) are separated from the fibres by a mechanical process called ginning. Thinner strands are produced by the roving (slubbing) process, in which the sliver is converted to roving by being pulled and slightly twisted. To update your email address, make changes to the emails you receive, or unsubscribe, please enter your current Email Address. The cotton bale is opened, and its fibres are raked mechanically to remove foreign matter (e.g., soil and seeds). Cotton also is used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. …the commercial industrial crops is cotton. Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. In the drawing (drafting) stage, a series of variable-speed rollers attenuates and reduces the sliver to firm uniform strands of usable size. Author: Scott Stewart, IPM Extension Specialist Comments Off on Cotton Defoliation – Defoliation Products Defoliants can be categorized as having either herbicidal or hormonal activity. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. 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. Ginned cotton is shipped in bales to a textile mill for yarn manufacturing. Blends (composites) are made during yarn processing by joining drawn cotton with other staple fibres, such as polyester or casein. 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. Cotton Plant Gossypium Herbaceum. Service Marks / Trademarks of Cotton Incorporated. These fibres are harvested to produce cotton yarn and textiles. While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. Socks, underwear, and most T-shirts are made from cotton. Cotton accepts many dyes, is usually washable, and can be ironed at relatively high temperatures. Great indoor plant. A hybrid of T. stricta and T.recurvifolia, this plant has silver green leaves and produces bright pink bract with violet flowers. Cotton, one of the world’s leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. 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. Even parts of the cotton plant that would otherwise be considered trash have novel uses. The plant also produces seeds that are contained in small capsules surrounded by fibre in the cotton bolls. 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. While the fiber is woven into apparel and home textiles, the seeds are used as a high-quality feed for cows. The various species of cotton grown as agricultural crops are native to most subtropical parts of the world and were domesticated independently multiple times. The procedure for weaving cotton yarn into fabric is similar to that for other fibres. Its name refers to the cream-colored fluffy fibers surrounding small cottonseeds called a boll. 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. Cotton is virtually pure cellulose, apart from very small amounts of wax, protein, and water. 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. Bed sheets often are made from cotton. When ripe, the boll bursts into a white, fluffy ball containing three to five cells, each having 7 to 10 seeds embedded in a mass of seed fibres. 90% cellulose, 6% moisture and the remainder fats and impurities. I’m Fahey Byrum III, or Butch. 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. 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. The cake, or meal, remaining after the oil is extracted is used in poultry and livestock feeds. 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 oil is used in salad and cooking oils and, after hydrogenation, in shortenings and margarine. Warp yarns often are treated chemically to prevent breaking during weaving. Rotor spinning machines at a coarse cotton factory. 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. Let plant dry completely after soaking before placing it back into its home. Cotton fabrics can be extremely durable and resistant to abrasion. Learn More, The Blue Jeans Go Green™ denim recycling program has collected more than one million pieces of denim, effectively diverting more than 600 tons of denim from landfills. 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. 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. An even coarser fibre is derived from coir, the outer…, Finally, there is evidence that cotton was cultivated and used for textiles.…. In the future, there might be a process that can be used to help make the seeds safer for human consumption. Additionally, genetically modified “Bt cotton” was developed to produce bacterial proteins that are toxic to herbivorous insects, ostensibly reducing the amount of pesticides needed (). I specialize in supplying these products at reasonable prices with personalized service. Clothes made out of cotton are especially light and comfortable. Cotton can be found as perennial treelike plants in tropical climates but is normally cultivated as a shrubby annual in temperate climates. During this period the seeds and their attached hairs develop within the boll, which increases considerably in size. After the pods pop, the fluffy cotton shows. Cotton fibre can be woven or knitted into fabrics including velvet, … ), and in the southwestern United States (500 B.C.). Mechanization has also reduced substantially the labour needed to grow cotton. For higher-quality yarn, card sliver is put through a combing machine, which straightens the staple further and removes unwanted short lengths, or noils. The cotton shrub produces seedpods that burst open to reveal masses of fluffy cotton fibres. Whole cottonseed leads to high production of milk and fat … But other parts of the plant are also used for various purposes. It is comfortable to wear because it absorbs and releases moisture quickly. Cotton comes from plants that produce seed pods filled with ball-shaped clumps of cotton fiber. 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. It is generally a shrubby plant having broad three-lobed leaves and seeds in capsules, or bolls; each seed is surrounded with … But the cotton plant is so much more than just a fiber source. 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. Updates? Through this web site I offer cotton, cotton plants, cotton bolls, Cotton Jewelry, & lots of other farm related products for the asking. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Cotton, one of the world’s leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise w… Cotton looms interlace the tense lengthwise yarns, called warp, with crosswise yarns called weft, or filling. Whole cottonseed is another feed product of cottonseed used to feed livestock. 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). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Combine harvesting ripe cotton in Alabama. Cotton seeds are valuable by-products. The process continues by spinning threads from the remaining, seedless white fiber. 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. Jute, mainly from West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar, is the second leading natural fibre. The small, sticky seeds must be separated from the wool in order to process the cotton for spinning and weaving. Omissions? 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. Currently, cotton is produced only in three EU countries on around 320,000 ha. Cottor Plants (India) Pvt. Properly timed insecticide application provides fairly effective control. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Cotton is a perennial that farmers grow on an annual schedule. According to CottonInc.com, cotton has been cultivated for about 7,000 years, and evidence suggests it … The bollworm (Heliothis zea, also known as the corn earworm) feeds on cotton and many other wild and cultivated plants. Glyphosate-resistant cotton, which can tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, was also developed through genetic engineering. 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. Vice President, Research, Textile Research Institute, Princeton, New Jersey. Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Punjab are the principal cotton-growing states. Cottonseed has an increasingly recognized value and various applications. Each fiber is a single elongated cell that is flat twisted and ribbon-like with a wide inner hollow (lumen). It may have existed in Egypt as early as 12,000 B.C. 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. Find out more about this program and how to get involved. Cotton has been cultivated and used to make fabrics for at least 7,000 years. 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