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Commodities > Cotton Background
Information Cotton is the seed-hair fibre of a variety of plants of the genus Gossypium, belonging to the Malvaceae family, native to most subtropical countries. It is a shrubby plant, growing up to 6 m (20 feet) high in the tropics, characteristically ranges from 1 to 2 m in height when it is under cultivation. It produces creamy-white flowers, which soon turn deep pink and fall off, leaving the small green seedpods, known as cotton bolls, which contain the seeds. Seed hairs, or fibres, growing from the outer skin of the seeds, become tightly packed within a boll, which bursts open upon maturity, revealing soft masses of the fibres. These are white to yellowish white in colour, ranging from about 2 to 4 cm (0.75 to 1.5 inches) in length. They 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. 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. The first group includes the fine, lustrous fibres with staple length ranging from about 2.5 to 6.5 cm and includes types of the highest quality—such as Sea Island, Egyptian, and pima cottons. Least plentiful and most difficult to grow, long-staple cottons are costly and are used mainly for fine fabrics, yarns, and hosiery. The second group contains the standard medium-staple cotton, such as American Upland, with staple length from about 1.3 to 3.3 cm. The third group includes the short-staple, coarse cottons, ranging from about 1 to 2.5 cm in length, used to make carpets and blankets, coarse and inexpensive fabrics, and blends with other fibres. Cotton is harvested when the bolls open. If it is to be mechanically picked, the leaves are usually chemically removed, encouraging uniform opening of the bolls. Most of the seeds are separated from the fibres by a mechanical process called ginning. Ginned cotton is shipped in bales to a textile mill for yarn manufacturing. A traditional yet 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. The cotton bale is opened and its fibres are raked mechanically to remove foreign matter (e.g., soil and seeds). A picker (picking machine) then wraps the fibres into a lap. A card (carding) machine brushes the loose fibres into rows that are joined as a soft sheet, or web, and forms them into loose untwisted rope known as card sliver. For higher quality yarn, card sliver is put through a combing machine, which straightens the staple to a finer degree and removes unwanted short lengths, or noils. In the drawing (drafting) stage, a series of variable-speed rollers attenuates and reduces the sliver to firm uniform strands of usable size. Thinner strands are produced by the roving (slubbing) process, in which the sliver is converted to roving by being pulled and slightly twisted. 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. Faster production methods include rotor spinning (a type of open-end spinning), in which fibres are detached from card sliver and twisted, within a rotor, as they are joined to the end of the yarn. 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. Blends (composites) are made during yarn processing by joining drawn cotton with other staple fibres, such as polyester or casein. The procedure for weaving cotton yarn into fabric is similar to that for other fibres. Cotton looms interlace the tense lengthwise yarns, called warp, with crosswise yarns called weft, or filling. Warp yarns often are treated chemically to prevent breaking during weaving. Cotton, one of the world's leading agricultural crops, is plentiful and economically produced, making cotton products relatively inexpensive. 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. Cotton fabrics can be extremely durable and resistant to abrasion. Cotton accepts many dyes, is usually washable, and can be ironed at relatively high temperatures. It is comfortable to wear because it absorbs and releases moisture quickly. When warmth is desired, it can be napped, a process giving the fabric a downy surface. 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. 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 Cultivation The cotton plant is normally cultivated as a shrubby annual in temperate climates but can be found as a perennial in treelike plants in tropical climates. The cultivated shrub grows from four to six feet tall (about one to two metres) over a growing period of six to seven months. Warm and humid climates with sandy soil are the most suitable. 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. Rain or strong wind may cause damage to the opened bolls. Within 80–100 days after planting, the plant develops white blossoms, which change to a reddish colour. The 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. During this period the seeds and their attached hairs develop within the boll, which increases considerably in size. The seed hair, or cotton fibre, reaching a maximum length of about two and a half inches (approximately six centimetres) in long fibre varieties, is known as lint. 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. When ripe, the boll bursts into a white, fluffy ball containing three to five cells, each having seven to 10 seeds embedded in a mass of seed fibres. Two-thirds of the weight of the seed cotton (i.e., the seed with the adhering seed hair) consists of the seeds. To avoid damage by wind or rain the cotton 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. Handpicking, carried out over a period of several days, allows selection of the mature and opened bolls, so that a higher yield is possible. Handpicking also produces considerably cleaner cotton; mechanical harvesters pick the bolls by suction, accumulating loose material, dust, and dirt, and cannot distinguish between good and discoloured 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.
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