INDIA

Odisha: The Harsh World of Soft Cotton in Kujasingh Village

Shubham Kumar | 23 Oct 2024

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Cotton farming (Bt cotton) to cater to the demand of Andhra Pradesh in this border village is impacting the health of tribal farmers as well as the soil.

Kujasingh is a village of backward tribals in coastal Gajapati district of Odisha. As part of work, one needed to check the library in the village school. It was a dilapidated building, consisting of eight rooms. In one room, there were 19 children, aged 10-12 years, sitting on the ground in an almost half-naked state. This writer tried talking to the children in Hindi but got back blank stares as they were not able to understand anything. They understood a bit of Oriya, but not Hindi. Still, when asked: “Do you people get books?”, the children shook their heads in unison.

The faces of many of those children bore some marks. When asked, their teacher (Jayanti), who was standing nearby, mumbled in a low voice, “Cotton is cultivated here. Adults have to bend down to pluck cotton, so it takes them a lot of time. It is also a bit of boring work. So, farmers deploy small children to do this work, as they are short and don’t have to bend down to pluck a lot of cotton. They get these marks on their faces while plucking cotton”.

Jayanti’s statement sounded illogical. Cotton is grown in other parts of the country and one had not heard of such a thing till date.

 When prodded further, Jayanti, said, “We are adivasis, should we look at our face or our stomachs? Actually, this is not a cotton land; we don’t even know how to grow cotton. The people of Andhra have ruined us by luring us with money”.

The teacher's words sounded puzzling. This writer left the classroom with a heavy heart, recalling how in childhood, cotton was known as “white gold”.

 While descending the stairs of that dilapidated school, one could see cotton wool floating around in the air. It was a thrilling sight.

 

‘Thighs Without Veins’

This is the living story of people sowing cotton seeds on a mountain. Gajapati is a tribal district, which was carved out of Ganjam district in 1992. The headquarters of this coastal district is at Paralakhemundi, on the Andhra Pradesh border. It used to be the parliamentary constituency of former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

In Mahendragiri mountain in the district, there is a belief, as per the Mahabharata, that the Pandava brothers lived on this mountain during their exile. A river named Mahendratanaya flows from the chest of this mountain. This river marks the border of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

Kujasingh village, located in Gumma block of Gajapati district, has 40 houses, located in the lap of a mountain. The Joraswar tribal community lives in this village. There is forest above and fields below. The main food consumed by the villagers is water and rice. And along with it, there is hand-made liquor. The village also has a pet python, which villagers said keeps lying on the road.

 There are many hilly villages in these areas of Odisha where cotton is cultivated. Kujasingh is one of them. If one looks down the slope from Kujasingh, it looks like a land covered with white flowers. Seeing those cotton fields for the first time, one was reminded of a line from Kedarnath Singh's poem:

Yah jo aapki kamiz hai

Kisi ke kheton mein khila kapas ka phool hai

 (This shirt of yours is a cotton flower blooming in someone's field)

Recently, while conducting a survey for a government scheme, one visited this village. It was raining heavily that day. At the panchayat office, one by one, old women started coming. Almost all of them were limping. When asked, the medical officer sitting there said,

“Cotton is cultivated here. When the cotton is plucked, before selling it in bulk, the old women keep a few sacks for themselves. Throughout the year, they rub it on their thighs with their hands to make wicks for lamps used for worship. These are sold in abundance in the temples of Andhra Pradesh. These women have been doing this work for 20–25 years. Due to this, the veins of their thighs are damaged.”

 These women get Rs. 4 for making a packet of wicks, which is sold in the market for Rs.12-15, and in some places even for Rs.20. Although younger women have stopped doing this work, the older women continue doing it for survival.

 This was the second imprint of “white gold” that one saw on the bodies of people of the area.

 The Cotton Trap

Cotton entered like an 'angel' in some districts of south-western Odisha. In these districts -- Kalahandi, Rayagada, Gajapati, and some hilly areas of Koraput -- farmers planted cotton crops for the first time in the 1990s, leaving aside their traditional hill farming.

When asked where and how cotton first entered these areas, many villagers said they did not know how cotton reached them. One person said his father used to do cotton farming, so they also started doing it. An old farmer (Devvrat) sounded most convincing. A retired teacher, he also used to do farming. “It (cotton) came to us from Andhra Pradesh around 1990; there were many cloth factories in Andhra where cotton was needed. Gajapati is very close to Andhra, so its cultivation started here first,” said Devvrat.

After pausing for a while, he added, “Doing such farming destroys the land, and don't even ask about the diseases. The people of Andhra were clever; they ruined us by luring us with money”.

Things became a bit clearer now. Cotton has become a bone stuck in the throats for the people here. They are neither able to swallow it nor spit it out.

On a terraced cotton field, surrounded by mountains from all sides, one could see the crop being picked. A large number of children were seen working. This field belonged to Raghu, 46, the sarpanch of this tribal village.

When this writer asked Raghu (who as plucking the plants) in Hindi to explain how cotton farming was done, jokingly adding that it looked like a promising venture, he said, “Don't do cotton farming. The land gets spoiled”.

 The school teacher (Jayanti), who was standing nearby, told Raghu in Oriya that we had come to learn about cotton and he should tell us whatever he knew. After remain silent for a while, he said, "The kappa (cotton) crop came to us; before that, we used to cultivate mandia (millet), arhar (pulses), and rice. In the beginning, Bt (a type of GM (genetically modified) cotton) seeds were very rare. When someone used to go to Andhra Pradesh, he used to bring it. Later, it turned into a seed business. When I did cotton farming for the first time, I made a lot of profit. It did not require as much hard work as rice. But now everyone has started growing it here. Now there is no benefit. On the contrary, our debts are increasing one after the other.”

On being asked why they don’t stop cultivating it if there is no profit, Raghu tearfully said, “Now nothing will grow on this land except cotton”.

 “When we planted cotton, we did not know that it would make the field favourable only to itself. Traders from outside used to give us seeds and fertilisers. Last year, I planted pigeon pea, but it remained in the ground. This time, we have planted only cotton,” he explained.

Raghu would have told us some more things, but by then his daughter had brought food for him. He sat down have his food at the edge of the field. 

As we walk away, Jayanti asked, “Bhaina (brother in Oriya), why do you want to know about cotton? Will the government run any schemes?”

 With no proper answer, I asked, “Who buys this cotton?” “My uncle buys the cotton of the whole village,” I was told. I said, I want to meet him. At first Jayanti hesitated, then said “We will meet him on Sunday.”

Labour brokerage

 On Sunday, we reached Jayanti's uncle's house, a big and beautiful house with various types of wooden dynasty frames, a statue of Gandhiji, and a statue of Lord Jagannath. It didn't feel like being in a tribal area. There were more than 50 cotton sacks lying in the verandah, while other sacks were being loaded on a small truck. Jayanti's uncle Loknath was counting the sacks.

After a while, he came in an attire like that of people from Andhra. In this part of Odisha, which adjoins Andhra, most of the affluent people are more influenced by the lifestyle of the people of Andhra Pradesh and want to live like them. 

When told that I wanted to know and understand about cotton and why many villagers were troubled by it, Loknath began by abusing cotton-cultivating farmers in Oriya. Then he said, “Who had a house in this area earlier, whose children used to wear clothes? Everything that is visible here is because of kappa. Now, we will have to pay the price.”

When asked where the seeds of cotton were coming from, he said,

“Don’t ask; the whole problem is about the seed; this Bt (cotton variety) has been banned by Andhra people. Cotton cannot be grown there, but there is a high demand for cotton there. So, they give the seed, and cotton is grown in the border area.”

Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh has not banned Bt cotton – it has just prohibited cultivation of some types.

 When asked who brought in the seeds from Andhra Pradesh went silent for a while. Jayanti piped up, “Actually, uncle brings the seed from there; he provides the fertiliser. And when the crop comes, all the farmers give the crop to uncle”.

 When are the crops planted? Seed sowing starts in May-June, and the crop starts coming out in November.  Do you use any manure or fertiliser? The farmers were saying the seeds are expensive and the chemicals are even more expensive.

 After all these questions were fired at him, Loknath got up and said, “What expensive? Glycophosate is a little expensive. There is a ruckus over it. Doctors are saying that due to its spraying, cotton farmers are getting cancer, kidney failure. Everybody wants to starve the tribals by spreading rumors here”.

Glycophosate or glyphosate is the herbicide to which Bt cotton is tolerant. So, if you plant Bt cotton you can spray glyphosate freely without fear of the cotton plants getting damaged.

 “This time, I have bought it for Rs.6,200; last time, it was Rs.5,600 per quintal,” he said.

 When asked why he himself doesn’t plant cotton, Loknath said, “Who wants to die, brother?”

 A medical officer, requesting anonymity, admitted glyphosate was a problem. It is sprayed before sowing seeds to kill weeds.

“But it is the root cause of cancer, and if it enters the body by mistake, then kidney damage is certain. Patients are coming to the hospital every day. The government has banned it. But people don't listen. Dealers secretly bring it from Andhra and sell it”, he said,

 An officer in the agriculture department said cotton had “made the weather and climate here worse; the temperature in summers reaches 42 degrees and it is raining.”

 “Now you will see that after a few days there will be no cotton. Kappa cannot withstand the onslaught of weather; the change in weather here is not favourable for cotton. The government is working, but there is no improvement visible anywhere”, he added.

 So, this is the story of that white-looking flower, which has the scratched the faces of children, left thighs of old women damaged, and several bodies struggling with cancer. The souls of these illiterate tribals are wounded, all because they were lured with a few rupees and decided to turn away from traditional farming to commercial farming. Allowing themselves to be exploited continuously. 

It is said that many people are involved in this “conspiracy”, and to some extent, even some among these tribals.

So, allow this writer to change poet Kedarnath Singh’s lines:

Yah jo aapke diye ki bati hai

Kitno ke jangh ki nas kha jati hai

 (This wick of your lamp 

It eats away the veins of so many people's thighs)

 

The writer studied at Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh. He is currently working as a fellow in Koraput, Odisha. The views are personal.

Physiological basis of yield in cotton: New “focus on cotton” webcast

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: A FIELD OF COTTON TO BE HARVESTED view more 

CREDIT: JOHN L. SNIDER

As the most commonly used natural fiber, cotton is a vital and versatile crop worldwide—grown for fiber, food, and even fuel. However, cotton production has fluctuated in the past decade due to various factors such as cultivar availability and climate change.

A foundational understanding of the physiological basis of yield in cotton is an important first step toward targeted yield improvement by using functional crop traits that are known to determine productivity. In a new “Focus on Cotton” webcast on Grow: Plant Health Exchange, John L. Snider, Associate Professor of Crop Physiology at the University of Georgia, provides an overview of the physiological drivers of yield in cotton and describes some of the factors that can influence each one. Additionally, he presents results from recently completed research with advanced breeding lines in the southeastern United States.

This 29-minute presentation is freely available through the “Focus on Cotton” resource on Grow: Plant Health Exchange—an outreach service of The American Phytopatholgical Society that contains more than 400 webcasts, including presentations from a number of conferences. These resources cover a broad range of aspects of cotton crop management: agronomic practices, diseases, harvest and ginning, insects, irrigation, nematodes, precision agriculture, soil health and crop fertility, and weeds. These webcasts are available to readers open access (without a subscription).

The “Focus on Cotton” homepage also provides access to “Cotton Cultivated,” a resource from Cotton Incorporated that helps users quickly find the most current cotton production information available. These and other resources are freely available courtesy of Cotton Incorporated at www.planthealthexchange.org/cotton/Pages/default.aspx.

To learn more, watch Physiological Basis of Yield in Cotton on Grow: Plant Health Exchange.

 

Follow Grow: Plant Health Exchange and The Cotton Board on Twitter @crop_protection and @TheCottonBoard.

 

About Grow: Plant Health Exchange: Grow: Plant Health Exchange is a nonprofit, freely available, online resource of timely, science-based information on plant health. It’s a place for plant health management professionals to exchange knowledge and discover the latest applied research. Applied researchers generate the content for Grow, sharing their work and amplifying their reach, and plant health practitioners consume the content on Grow, relying on this user-friendly platform to provide proven plant health science. As an outreach service of The American Phytopathological Society, Grow serves the full range of professionals in plant health management.

About the Cotton Board: The Cotton Research & Promotion Act established the Cotton Board as a quasi-governmental, nonprofit entity to serve as the administrator of the Cotton Research & Promotion Program. Funded by America’s cotton producers and importers through the cotton check-off, the program’s research and promotion activities are conducted worldwide by Cotton Incorporated, the Cotton Board’s sole-source contracting organization, to increase the demand for and improve the market position of cotton.

The Cotton Research & Promotion Program continues to work in all areas of cotton’s pipeline—from the field to the consumer—to keep cotton the number-one fiber choice in the United States. For more information about the Cotton Board and the innovative activities stemming from the program, visit www.cottonboard.org.

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DOI

10.1094/GROW-COT-11-22-352 

ARTICLE TITLE

Physiological Basis of Yield in Cotton

How Climate Change Is Making Tampons (and Lots of Other Stuff) More Expensive

Coral Davenport
Sat, February 18, 2023 

Cotton left over after the harvest in Meadow, Texas, Jan. 19, 2023. 

(Jordan Vonderaar/The New York Times)

When the Agriculture Department finished its calculations last month, the findings were startling: 2022 was a disaster for upland cotton in Texas, the state where the coarse fiber is primarily grown and then sold around the globe in the form of tampons, cloth diapers, gauze pads and other products.

In the biggest loss on record, Texas farmers abandoned 74% of their planted crops — nearly 6 million acres — because of heat and parched soil, hallmarks of a megadrought made worse by climate change.

That crash has helped to push up the price of tampons in the United States 13% over the past year. The price of cloth diapers spiked 21%. Cotton balls climbed 9%, and gauze bandages increased by 8%. All of that was well above the country’s overall inflation rate of 6.5% in 2022, according to data provided by the market research firms NielsonIQ and The NPD Group.
It’s an example of how climate change is reshaping the cost of daily life in ways that consumers might not realize.

West Texas is the main source of upland cotton in the United States, which in turn is the world’s third-biggest producer and largest exporter of the fiber. That means the collapse of the upland cotton crop in West Texas will spread beyond the United States, economists say, onto store shelves around the world.

“Climate change is a secret driver of inflation,” said Nicole Corbett, a vice president at NielsonIQ. “As extreme weather continues to impact crops and production capacity, the cost of necessities will continue to rise.”

Halfway around the world in Pakistan, the world’s sixth-largest producer of upland cotton, severe flooding, made worse by climate change, destroyed half that country’s cotton crop.

There have been other drags on the global cotton supply. In 2021, the United States banned imports of cotton from the Xinjiang region of China, a major cotton-producing area, out of concerns about the use of forced labor.

But experts say that the impact of the warming planet on cotton is expanding across the planet with consequences that may be felt for decades to come.

By 2040, half of the regions around the globe where cotton is grown will face a “high or very high climate risk” from drought, floods and wildfires, according to the nonprofit group Forum for the Future.

Texas cotton offers a peek into the future. Scientists project that heat and drought exacerbated by climate change will continue to shrink yields in the Southwest — further driving up the prices of many essential items. A 2020 study found that heat and drought worsened by climate change have already lowered the production of upland cotton in Arizona and projected that future yields of cotton in the region could drop by 40% between 2036 and 2065.

Cotton is “a bellwether crop,” said Natalie Simpson, an expert in supply chain logistics at the University at Buffalo. “When weather destabilizes it, you see changes almost immediately,” Simpson said. “This is true anywhere it’s grown. And the future supply that everyone depends on is going to look very different from how it does now. The trend is already there.”

Return of the Dust Bowl

For decades, the Southwestern cotton crop has depended on water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches underneath eight western states from Wyoming to Texas.

But the Ogallala is declining, in part because of climate change, according to the 2018 National Climate Assessment, a report issued by 13 federal agencies. “Major portions of the Ogallala Aquifer should now be considered a nonrenewable resource,” it said.

That is the same region that was abandoned by more than 2 million people during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, caused by severe drought and poor farming practices. John Steinbeck famously chronicled the trauma in his epic “The Grapes of Wrath,” about a family of cotton farmers driven from their Oklahoma home. Lately, the novel has been weighing on the mind of Mark Brusberg, a meteorologist at the Agriculture Department.

“The last time this happened, there was a mass migration of producers from where they couldn’t survive any longer to a place where they were going to give it a shot,” Brusberg said. “But we have to figure out how to keep that from happening again.”

In the years since, the farmland over the Ogallala once again flourished as farmers drew from the aquifer to irrigate their fields. But now, with the rise in heat and drought and the decline of the aquifer, those dust storms are returning, the National Climate Assessment found. Climate change is projected to increase the duration and intensity of drought over much of the Ogallala region in the next 50 years, the report said.

Barry Evans, a fourth-generation cotton farmer near Lubbock, Texas, doesn’t need a scientific report to tell him that. Last spring, he planted 2400 acres of cotton. He harvested 500 acres.

“This is one of the worst years of farming I’ve ever seen,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of the Ogallala Aquifer, and it’s not coming back.”

When Evans began farming cotton in 1992, he said, he was able to irrigate about 90% of his fields with water from the Ogallala. Now that’s down to 5% and declining, he said. He has been growing cotton in rotation with other crops and using new technologies to maximize the precious little moisture that does arrive from the skies. But he sees farmers around him giving up.

“The decline of the Ogallala has had a strong impact on people saying it’s time to retire and stop doing this,” he said.

Kody Bessent, the CEO of Plains Cotton Growers Inc., which represents farmers who grow cotton across 4 million acres in Texas, said that land would produce 4 or 5 million bales of cotton in a typical year. Production for 2022 is projected at 1.5 million bales — a cost to the regional economy of roughly $2 billion to $3 billion, he said.

“It’s a huge loss,” he said. “It’s been a tragic year.”

From Cotton Fields to Walmart Shelves

Upland cotton is shorter and coarser than its more famous cousin, Pima cotton. It is also far more widely grown and is the staple ingredient in cheap clothes and basic household and hygiene products.

In the United States, most cotton grown is upland cotton, and the crop is concentrated in Texas. That’s unusual for a major commodity crop. While other crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans are affected by extreme weather, they are spread out geographically so that a major event afflicting some of the crop may spare the rest, said Lance Honig, an economist at the Agriculture Department.

“That’s why cotton really stands out, with this drought having such a big impact on the national crop,” Honig said.

Sam Clay of Toyo Cotton Co., a Dallas trader that buys upland cotton from farmers and sells it to mills, said the collapse of the crop had sent him scrambling. “Prices have gone sky-high, and all this is getting passed on to consumers,” he said.

Clay said he is experiencing the impacts himself. “I bought six pairs of Wranglers a year and a half ago for $35 a pair. I’m paying $58 a pair now.”

At least 50% of the denim in every pair of Wrangler and of Lee jeans is woven from U.S.-grown cotton, and the cost of that cotton can represent more than half the price tag, said Jeff Frye, the vice president of sustainability for Kontoor Brands, which owns both labels.

Frye and others who deal in denim did point out, however, that other factors have driven up price, including the ban on imports of Xinjiang cotton, high fuel costs and the complicated logistics of moving materials.

Among the cotton products most sensitive to the price of raw materials are personal care items like tampons and gauze bandages, since they require very little labor or processing like dying, spinning or weaving, said Jon Devine, an economist at Cotton Inc., a research and marketing company.

The price of Tampax, the tampon giant that sells 4.5 billion boxes globally each year, started climbing fast last year.

In an earnings call in January, Andre Schulten, chief financial officer for Procter & Gamble, which makes Tampax, said the costs of raw materials “are still a significant headwind” for the company across several products, forcing the company to raise prices.

On a recent Sunday at a Walmart in Alexandria, Virginia, several shoppers said they had noticed rising prices.

“The price of a regular box of Tampax has gone up from $9 to $11,” said Vanessa Skelton, a consultant and the mother of a 3-year-old. “That’s a regular monthly expense.”

Make Way for Polyester

Cotton farmers say that Washington can help by increasing aid in the farm bill, legislation that Congress is renewing this year.

Taxpayers have sent Texas cotton farmers an average of $1 billion annually over the past five years in crop insurance subsidies, according to Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis.

Farmers say they’d like expanded funding for disaster relief programs to cover the impact of increasingly severe drought and to pay farmers for planting cover crops that help retain soil moisture. They also say they hope that advances in genetically modified seeds and other technologies can help sustain Texas cotton.

But some economists say it may not make sense to continue support a crop that will no longer be viable in some regions as the planet continues to warm.

“Since the 1930s, government programs have been fundamental to growing cotton,” Sumner said. “But there’s not a particular economic argument to grow cotton in West Texas as the climate changes. Does it make any economic sense for a farm bill in Washington, D.C., to say, ‘West Texas is tied to cotton?’ No, it doesn’t.”

In the long run, it could just mean that cotton is no longer the main ingredient in everything from tampons to textiles, said Sumner, “and we’re all going to use polyester.”

© 2023 The New York Times Company

 

HudsonAlpha researchers create valuable genomic tools for the cotton industry

HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY

We live in an ever-changing and growing world. Changing climates, emerging pests, and other environmental stressors put pressure on the cash crops that feed and fuel the world. As we race to meet the growing demand for sustainable and high-quality food and fiber crops, genomics is emerging as a powerful tool in the fight. By understanding plants’ genetic codes, researchers and breeders can develop crops with increased yields, improved resistance to pests and diseases, and greater adaptability to environmental challenges. 

Genome-informed breeding primarily benefits crops with existing high-quality genomic resources, like rice and wheat. However, crops with less mature genomic resources must continue to rely on traditional breeding methods, which sometimes suffer due to a lack of genomic diversity within the breeding populations. 

Cotton, a vital cash crop worldwide, lacks robust genomic resources. The cotton industry is big business, with a global economic impact of $600 billion and providing jobs for more than 250 million people. Successful cotton production relies on cotton varieties with desirable characteristics like high yield, good fiber quality, pest and disease resistance, and drought tolerance. 

“Cotton breeders have improved fiber yield and quality over the years using traditional breeding methods,” says Jeremy Schmutz, co-director of the HudsonAlpha Genome Sequencing Center, who has been working on cotton genomics for over a decade. “Achieving additional improvements may be difficult for them due to the lack of genetic variation across modern domesticated cotton. Creating new genomic tools for the industry will help take cotton improvements to the next level.” 

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology Genome Sequencing Center (GSC) and other collaborators set out to create high-quality genome sequences for three important cotton varieties, providing necessary genome resources for cotton breeders. The results were recently published in Nature Plants. 

“Cotton research has relied heavily on one reference genome, ‘TM1’, a variety of cotton that is no longer widely used in breeding programs,” says Avinash Sreedasyam, PhD, first author of the manuscript. “In order for molecular breeding to benefit the cotton industry, many, varied genomes must exist to represent the diversity of cotton varieties. This study generated high-quality reference genomes for three modern upland cotton cultivars and updated the ‘TM-1’ cotton genetic standard reference.” 

Initial analysis of the new reference genomes produced important information about fiber quality. The highly accurate and complete genome assemblies were used to identify genetic material from Pima cotton (known for superior fiber quality) within modern cotton varieties. Small segments of each genome were compared to both Pima and the reference cotton genome. 

Segments that matched Pima more closely than the reference cotton were classified as potential introgressions, suggesting Pima DNA had been incorporated into the modern cotton's genetic makeup. Knowledge of these Pima introgressions will help breeders to efficiently select progeny with these fiber-quality linked genetic markers in their breeding programs.  

“Leveraging relatively inexpensive low-pass sequencing alongside these genomes empowers breeders to select progeny rapidly,” says Sreedasyam. “This will not only save time but also reduce costs associated with traditional fiber phenotyping, a laborious process usually requiring hundreds to thousands of samples per breeding cycle.” 

These findings highlight the significance of using detailed genome assemblies to uncover genetic variations that can improve cotton breeding programs. The more these new, high-quality genomes are used for comparative studies, the more information about economically important cotton traits will emerge. The genomic resources described in this study represent a valuable addition to the cotton breeding toolkit and will reap benefits for years to come. 

Collaborators on this project include Don C. Jones, Cotton Incorporated, NC; Peng W. Chee, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA; Warwick N. Stiller, CSIRO, Cotton Research Unit, Australia; and Fred Bourland, University of Arkansas, Keiser, AR.

This work is supported by Cotton Incorporated (Award 18-753) and the intramural research program of the US Department of  Agriculture,  National Institute of  Food and Agriculture  Foundational and Applied Science Program Award 2022-67013-36899. The findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here have not been formally disseminated by the US Department of Agriculture and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.

Byline: Sarah Sharman, PhD

JOURNAL

Nature Plants

DOI

10.1038/s41477-024-01713-z 

ARTICLE TITLE

Genome resources for three modern cotton lines guide future breeding efforts

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-May-2024

Agrotechnicians' hard work helps increase cotton yield, quality in Egypt

A man collects harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

With agrotechnicians' great efforts, Egypt sees another harvest of cotton that has further improved in both quantity and quality.

by Mahmoud Fouly

KAFR EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Bathed in the warm sun and pleasant breezes of the Mediterranean, cotton bolls bloomed on the research farm of Sakha Agricultural Research Station in Kafr El-Sheikh in the Nile Delta region of northern Egypt, turning the land into a white blanket.

A dozen of cotton pickers were hard at work, removing the bolls from cotton plants and putting them into small bags. On the side of the field, huge burlap sacks of cotton piled up like a small hill.

Two varieties of cotton were grown on the research farm, Giza 97, one of the most cultivated cotton varieties in Egypt, and Giza 93, one of the best cotton varieties in the world in terms of quality.



A woman harvests cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

This year's harvest on the farm will provide Egyptian agrotechnicians with the information to further improve the breeding and cultivation of the two cotton varieties.

Salah Saber, leader of the cotton seed breeding team at the research farm, said that agrotechnicians' hard efforts have made a significant contribution to the production of top-quality cotton, on which Egypt takes great pride.

"We have succeeded in breaking the negative correlation between the cotton yield and quality, and managed to get both at the same time," he said.

He explained that a feddan (0.42 hectare) of cotton, which used to produce about 7 to 8 kantars (a kantar equals 45.02 kg) of seed cotton, now produces about 12 to 13 kantars, thanks to the cotton breeding research.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that the export of Egyptian cotton in the previous cotton season, which started in September 2020 and ended in August 2021, reached 1.7 million kantars.



A woman carries harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

The CAPMAS data also showed that cotton production in the Arab world's most populous country reached 2.3 million kantars in the 2020/2021 season, a 31-percent increase over the 2019/2020 season.

Saber said that the boom in cotton production is driven by both Egypt's plans to expand the cultivation of the cash crop and improve cotton breeding and cultivating technologies.

Egypt's agrotechnicians have been seeking to create cotton varieties that satisfy the demands of farmers in terms of yield, those of merchants in terms of the quantity of lint produced, and those of the global market in terms of quality, staple length, fiber strength and softness, Saber added.


A woman shows harvested cotton at a farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sept. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Samar Salem, a cotton picker, said she was happy to work in the farm, whose research will bring benefits to the country's cotton industry and improve the living condition of millions of Egyptian farmers. ■

India Cotton Trader Boosts Buying to Help Suffering Farmers

Pratik Parija Bloomberg March 6, 2020


(Bloomberg) -- An Indian state-run cotton buyer is boosting purchases from farmers to prevent them from making distressed sales as the spreading coronavirus curbs demand in key export markets and causes prices to slump.

Cotton Corp. of India Ltd. has bought about 7.5 million bales (170 kilograms each) from farmers so far in 2019-20, and will buy more if growers offer supplies, Chairman P. Alli Rani said in a phone interview.

Transport of the fiber across China is being delayed, and concern is mounting that factory closures will weigh on demand. Logistical issues mean mills are finding it hard to take delivery of cotton and ship yarn products to buyers.

Cotton futures in New York have fallen about 12% from their Jan. 13 high, while local Indian prices have dropped 7% since Jan. 22.

For Arun Sekhsaria, a top executive at one of the biggest cotton exporters, the virus has meant that he can’t risk selling abroad, though he notes that the support of the state buyer means cotton producers are better off than most.

“I am just keeping quiet,” said Sekhsaria, managing director of D.D. Cotton. “I am not booking any cargoes for exports as I can’t travel overseas now if there is any issue with the shipments for any reason. Everything is uncertain and nobody knows where prices will go.”

Cotton Corp.’s purchases are its biggest on an annual basis since 2014-15, when it bought 8.7 million bales. The company, which acquires fiber at government-set minimum prices, bought about 30% of total market arrivals so far this year and is currently purchasing about 50% of daily arrivals, Rani said.

The company has separately bought about 8,000 bales of long staple cotton from ginners at market rates this year through its commercial business, she said. It bought 7,700 bales in 2018-19, according to Cotton Corp.

“All my infrastructure has been engaged in minimum support price operations,” Rani said. “I am not really concentrating on commercial purchases.” About 65% of total expected production has already arrived in the market, with the remainder set to arrive in the next two to three months.

Read: Coronavirus Causing ‘Big Slowdown’ in Chinese Cotton Factories

Demand for Indian cotton has fallen from most buyers, including Vietnam and China, Sekhsaria said. That leaves Bangladesh as its only export option, and the nation may buy as much as 2.5 million bales in 2019-20, he said.

The current domestic cotton price makes it attractive as it’s lower than the government-set minimum support price, said Vinay Kotak, a director of Kotak Commodity Services Pvt., one of India’s biggest cotton exporters. “Imports are also becoming costlier due to a depreciation in the rupee.”

Some cotton ginners will lose money because of their expensive stockpiles, Kotak said. “We are seeing a new low every day. There is still uncertainty in the market. If the virus settles, the prices will shoot up.”

“International prices are falling because of fear psychosis,” Kotak said. “We are yet to start business with Chinese buyers.”

Cotton, yarn prices fall as coronavirus brings exports to China to a halt
Indian exporters aren't pursuing the Chinese market either, as travel to that country to address quality or quantity issues post shipment will be difficult

Dilip Kumar Jha & T E Narasimhan | Mumbai/Chennai Last Updated at March 6, 2020 

Cotton yarn lost 2-3 per cent over the last one month, while synthetic yarn declined by 4-5 per cent during the past one month, following a fall in crude prices.

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Coronavirus prompts India's top cotton trader to stop sales to China

Cotton and yarn prices have declined by up to 10 per cent during the past one month on a domestic supply glut that emerged after exports to China came to a grinding halt. The cessation of shipments to that country was caused by the lockdown of shops and factories there, following the coronavirus outbreak.

Raw (unginned) cotton in the Gondal (Gujarat) market shed almost 10 per cent to trade at Rs 4,280 a quintal on Wednesday from a level of Rs 4,755 a month ago. Cotton yarn lost 2-3 per cent over the last one month, while synthetic yarn declined by 4-5 per cent during the past one month, following a fall in crude prices.

Atul Ganatra, president of Cotton Association of India, said globally cotton yarn prices have dropped to 60.50 cents on the Intercontinental Exchange on February 28 from 71.5 cents. This has also impacted exporters margins.

The lockdown in China of retail shops and factories has hit India’s cotton and yarn exports hard with shipments came to an abrupt halt. “India’s cotton and yarn exports to China have halted due to lack of orders from there. Even Indian exporters have not evinced any interest in pursuing with export orders. In case any quality or quantity issue arises after shipment, travelling to China for clearing the cargo will be difficult,” said Arun Sakseria, a city-based cotton exporter.

Price of cotton and yarn is taking a beating due to poor sentiment in the market due to the outbreak of coronavirus in China and deterioration of quality in the present kapas arrivals.
Looking at the decline in cotton prices, the government owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has offered a discount of Rs 3,200-5,000 per candy (1 candy = 356 kg) for old stock purchased in bulk.

The decline in raw material prices is likely to benefit textile mills and their profit margins may go up in the coming quarters.

“Raw material costs have started moderating due to the outbreak of coronavirus which has impacted demand / production in China. Disruption in supply chain or production of polyester yarn in China is likely to provide greater export opportunities to Indian polyester manufacturers later,” said Madhu Sudhan Bhageria, chairman and managing director, Filatex India Ltd. In the Budget last month, the government had removed anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA), a raw aterial for synthetic yarn.

The abolition of anti-dumping duty on key raw material input PTA has changed the landscape of synthetic textile manufacturers. The Indian textile industry has been stagnating in spite of the slowdown in China.

According to Icra, the coronavirus outbreak has started exerting pressure on yarn realisations, which have corrected by 2-3 per cent since the beginning of February 2020. This follows a brief recovery seen in India’s cotton yarn exports in the month of January 2020 when the exports touched an estimated 100 million kg, in line with India’s historical monthly average, following a weak performance for nine consecutive months earlier.

The domestic cotton spinning industry is highly dependent on exports, particularly to China, with around 30 per cent of the cotton yarn produced in the country being exported, and China accounting for nearly one-third of the exports in recent years.

Jayanta Roy, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, Icra, said, “Even though domestic cotton fibre prices continue to be competitive vis-a-vis international cotton prices at present with a price spread of about 4 per cent (down from 9 per cent in Feb-20), a further correction in international cotton prices amid demand-side uncertainties could render domestic spinners uncompetitive in the international markets, similar to the situation which was witnessed in H1 FY2020.”

For synthetic yarn, Raw material cost has started moderating because the outbreak of coronavirus is likely to impact demand for polyester yarn in China, which accounts for around 65 per cent of global demand. As a consequence, the price of PTA, a key raw material that accounts for more than half of the sales price of polyester yarn, is expected to be under pressure in the near term.

Brazil farmers bet on environmentally friendly cotton

AFP - Yesterday 

The road through Cristalina, Brazil is in the middle of the tropics, but the fields on either side look like they are covered in snow -- little white puffs of cotton stretching to the horizon.


A combine harvests cotton in a field at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

The alabaster plants interspersed with the corn and soybean fields outside the central-western town are part of a silent revolution in Brazil: facing negative attention over the agribusiness industry's environmental impact, farmers are increasingly turning to cotton and adopting sustainable techniques to produce it.


Cristina Schetino, a researcher from the University of Brasilia, speaks about biological pest control in cotton farming during an interview with AFP on August 4, 2022

After increasing exports 15-fold in the past two decades, Brazil is now the world's second-biggest cotton supplier, after the United States -- and the biggest producer of sustainable cotton.

No less than 84 percent of the cotton grown in the South American agricultural giant is certified by the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an international non-profit group to promote sustainable cotton farming.

"Consumers have changed. People don't want to buy products any more that don't respect nature and its cycles," says entomologist Cristina Schetino of the University of Brasilia, who specializes in cotton farming.


Workers take samples from cotton bales at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

The industry is trying to improve the international image of Brazilian farming, tarnished by a history of slave labor, heavy pesticide use and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest for agriculture, a trend that has accelerated under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro -- an agribusiness ally.


Cotton bales in a field at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

In 2005, the Brazilian Cotton Producers' Association (Abrapa) launched a sustainability training program for farmers and introduced protocols on efficiently using water and pesticides and phasing out toxic products in favor of biological fertilizers.

A new tracing program launched with Brazilian clothing brands, meanwhile, lets consumers check how cotton goods were produced.

Last season, cotton farmers in Brazil replaced 34 percent of chemical pesticides with biological ones, Abrapa says.

They have also started using drones to apply pesticides more efficiently.

Switching to sustainable techniques is "a re-education process," says Abrapa's executive director, Marcio Portocarreiro.

"At first, farmers tend to think mainly about the impact on their bottom line. But when they get past that phase... they realize that farming sustainably gives them a guaranteed market," he told AFP.

- Added value -

Located outside Cristalina, around 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Brasilia, the capital, Fazenda Pamplona is one of Brazil's biggest proponents of sustainable cotton.

The 27,000-hectare (67,000-acre) operation, run by agribusiness giant SLC Agricola, is like a small city in the middle of the countryside, with a banquet hall, a children's park, sports fields and housing for employees.

The farm aims to retain workers by creating a home where they will want to stay, says production coordinator Diego Goldschmidt.

He stands in front of two enormous bales of cotton, labeled with QR codes that detail their harvest.

"These are already sold," he beams.

The farm produced more than 600,000 tonnes last year, 99 percent of it for export.

Sustainable cotton sells for prices up to 10 percent higher than conventional cotton.

"Besides being the right thing to do for society and the environment, it provides added value," says Goldschmidt.

- Aiming high -

But cotton remains one of the most pesticide-intensive crops, using more than double that of soy per hectare.

The problem is the prevalence of pests such as boll weevils and the absence of organic products to stop them, says Schetino.

"There's still a lot of dependence on chemical products, which have a negative environmental impact," says the entomologist, who is researching alternatives.

Brazil cultivates around 1.6 million hectares of cotton a year. It is a key supplier for the global garment industry, exporting to the likes of China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey.

Abrapa has set itself the ambitious goal of surpassing the US to become the world's biggest cotton supplier in 2030.

"Brazil may not have a good image on sustainable farming yet," says Goldschmidt.

"But we will soon. There's a lot of potential."

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