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{{Short description|Plant fiber from the genus Gossypium}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Cotton sidebar}}
[[File:CSIRO ScienceImage 10736 Manually decontaminating cotton before processing at an Indian spinning mill.jpg|thumb|Manually decontaminating cotton before processing at an Indian spinning mill, in 2010.]]

'''Cotton''' is a soft, fluffy [[staple fiber]] that grows in a [[wikt:boll|boll]], or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''[[Gossypium]]'' in the mallow family [[Malvaceae]]. The fiber is almost pure [[cellulose]], and can contain minor percentages of [[wax]]es, [[fat]]s, [[pectin]]s, and [[water]]. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.

The plant is a [[shrub]] native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080625045134/http://www.ogtr.gov.au/pdf/ir/biologycotton08.pdf The Biology of ''Gossypium hirsutum'' L. and ''Gossypium barbadense'' L. (cotton)]. ogtr.gov.au</ref> Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Evolution of Cotton |url=https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cotton/evolution |website=Learn.Genetics |access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref>

The fiber is most often [[Spinning (textiles)|spun]] into [[yarn]] or thread and used to make a soft, [[breathable]], and durable [[textile]]. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated to the fifth millennium BC have been found in the [[Indus Valley civilization]], as well as fabric remnants dated back to 4200 BC in [[Peru]].
Although cultivated since antiquity, it was the invention of the [[cotton gin]] that lowered the cost of production that led to its widespread use, and it is the most widely used [[natural fiber]] cloth in clothing today.

Current estimates for world production are about 25 million [[tonne]]s or 110 million [[Cotton bale|bales]] annually, accounting for 2.5% of the world's [[arable land]]. India is the world's largest producer of cotton. The United States has been the largest exporter for many years.<ref name="natfibr2009">{{cite web|url-status=dead |url=http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/cotton.html|title=Natural fibres: Cotton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903094603/http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/cotton.html|archive-date=3 September 2011 |website=2009 International Year of Natural Fibres }}</ref>

[[File:BALLS OF COTTON (ANDHRA -SOUTH INDIA) READY FOR HARVEST.jpg|thumb|Cotton ready for harvest in [[Andhra Pradesh]], India.]]

==Types==
There are four commercially grown species of cotton, all domesticated in antiquity:
*''[[Gossypium hirsutum]]''&nbsp;– upland cotton, native to [[Central America]], Mexico, the Caribbean and southern Florida (90% of world production)<ref name="natfibr2009" />
*''[[Gossypium barbadense]]''&nbsp;– known as extra-long staple cotton, native to tropical South America (over 5% of world production)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Xia |last2=Zhao |first2=Bo |last3=Zheng |first3=Hua-Jun |last4=Hu |first4=Yan |last5=Lu |first5=Gang |last6=Yang |first6=Chang-Qing |last7=Chen |first7=Jie-Dan |last8=Chen |first8=Jun-Jian |last9=Chen |first9=Dian-Yang |last10=Zhang |first10=Liang |last11=Zhou |first11=Yan |last12=Wang |first12=Ling-Jian |last13=Guo |first13=Wang-Zhen |last14=Bai |first14=Yu-Lin |last15=Ruan |first15=Ju-Xin |date=2015-09-30 |title=Gossypium barbadense genome sequence provides insight into the evolution of extra-long staple fiber and specialized metabolites |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=14139 |doi=10.1038/srep14139 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=4588572 |pmid=26420475|bibcode=2015NatSR...514139L }}</ref>
*''[[Gossypium arboreum]]''&nbsp;– tree cotton, native to India and Pakistan (less than 2%)
*''[[Gossypium herbaceum]]''&nbsp;– Levant cotton, native to southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (less than 2%)

Hybrid varieties are also cultivated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Singh|first=Phundan|title=Cotton Varieties and Hybrids|url=http://www.cicr.org.in/pdf/cotton_varieties_hybrids.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cicr.org.in/pdf/cotton_varieties_hybrids.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> The two New World cotton species account for the vast majority of modern cotton production, but the two Old World species were widely used before the 1900s. While cotton fibers occur naturally in colors of white, brown, pink and green, fears of contaminating the genetics of white cotton have led many cotton-growing locations to ban the growing of colored cotton varieties.

==Etymology==
The word "cotton" has [[List of English words of Arabic origin|Arabic origins]], derived from the [[Arabic]] word {{lang|ar|قطن}} ({{lang|ar-Latn|qutn}} or {{lang|ar-Latn|qutun}}). This was the usual word for cotton in [[Classical Arabic|medieval Arabic]].<ref name=BahethInfo>A number of large dictionaries were written in Arabic during medieval times. Searchable copies of nearly all of the main medieval Arabic dictionaries are online at [http://www.baheth.info/index.jsp Baheth.info] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415064207/http://baheth.info/index.jsp |date=15 April 2017 }} and/or [http://www.alwaraq.net/Core/AlwaraqSrv/getsubjectex?fkey=4&offset=1&subjectid=37 AlWaraq.net]. One of the most esteemed of the dictionaries is [[Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari]]'s ''"Al-Sihah"'' which is dated around and shortly after year 1000. The biggest is [[Ibn Manzur]]'s ''"Lisan Al-Arab"'' which is dated 1290 but most of its contents were taken from a variety of earlier sources, including 9th- and 10th-century sources. Often Ibn Manzur names his source then quotes from it. Therefore, if the reader recognizes the name of Ibn Manzur's source, a date considerably earlier than 1290 can often be assigned to what is said. A list giving the year of death of a number of individuals who Ibn Manzur quotes from is in [https://archive.org/stream/ArabicEnglishLexicon.CopiousEasternSources.EnlargedSuppl.Kamoos.Lane.Poole.1863/01.ArabicEnglLex.v1p1.let.1.2.3.4..Alif.Ba.Ta.Tha..Lane.1863.#page/n30/mode/1up Lane's ''Arabic-English Lexicon'', volume 1, page xxx] (year 1863). Lane's ''[[Arabic-English Lexicon]]'' contains much of the main contents of the medieval Arabic dictionaries in English translation. At AlWaraq.net, in addition to searchable copies of medieval Arabic dictionaries, there are searchable copies of a large number of medieval Arabic texts on various subjects.</ref> [[Marco Polo]] in chapter 2 in his book, describes a province he calls Khotan in Turkestan, today's [[Xinjiang]], where cotton was grown in abundance. The word entered the [[Romance languages]] in the mid-12th century,<ref name=CNRTLfr>More details at [http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/ ''CNRTL.fr Etymologie''] in French language. [[Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales]] (CNRTL) is a division of the [[French National Centre for Scientific Research]].</ref> and English a century later. Cotton fabric was known to the ancient [[Roman Empire|Romans]] as an import, but cotton was rare in the [[Romance-speaking Europe|Romance-speaking lands]] until imports from the Arabic-speaking lands in the later medieval era at transformatively lowered prices.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mazzaoui |first1=Maureen Fennell |title=The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages, 1100-1600 |date=1981 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-23095-7 }}{{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The definition of cotton |url=http://dictionary.com/browse/cotton |website=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=21 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|History of cotton}}

===Early history===
====South Asia====
{{Further|Tree cotton}}
[[File:Mehrgarh pakistan rel96.JPG|thumb|Mehrgarh shown in a physical map of the surrounding region]]

The earliest evidence of the use of cotton in the [[Old World]], dated to 5500 BC and preserved in copper beads, has been found at the [[Neolithic]] site of [[Mehrgarh]], at the foot of the [[Bolan Pass]] in [[ancient India]], today in [[Balochistan]] Pakistan.<ref name="Mithen2006">{{citation|last=Mithen|first=Steven|title=After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVygmardAA4C&pg=PA411|year=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01999-7|pages=411–412}} Quote: "One of the funerary chambers, dating to around 5500 BC, had contained an adult male lying on his side with legs flexed backward and a young child, approximately one or two years old, at his feet. Next to the adult's left wrist were eight copper beads which had once formed a bracelet. As such metal beads were only found in one other Neolithic burial at Mehrgarh, he must have been an extraordinarily wealthy and important person. Microscopic analysis showed that each bead had been made by beating and heating copper ore into a thin sheet which had then been rolled around a narrow rod. Substantial corrosion prevented a detailed technological study of the beads; yet this turned out to be a blessing as the corrosion had led to the preservation of something quite remarkable inside one of the beads – a piece of cotton. ... After further microscopic study, the fibres were unquestionably identified as cotton; it was, in fact, a bundle of both unripe and ripe fibres that had been wound together to make a thread, these being differentiated by the thickness of their cell walls. As such, this copper bead contained the earliest known use of cotton in the world by at least a thousand years. The next earliest was also found at Mehrgarh: a collection of cotton seeds discovered amidst charred wheat and barley grains outside one of its mud-brick rooms."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1006/jasc.2001.0779| title = First Evidence of Cotton at Neolithic Mehrgarh, Pakistan: Analysis of Mineralized Fibres from a Copper Bead| journal = Journal of Archaeological Science| volume = 29| issue = 12| pages = 1393–1401| year = 2002| last1 = Moulherat | first1 = C. | last2 = Tengberg | first2 = M. | last3 = Haquet | first3 = J. R. M. F. | last4 = Mille | first4 = B. ̂T. | bibcode = 2002JArSc..29.1393M}} Quote: "The metallurgical analysis of a copper bead from a Neolithic burial (6th millennium bc) at Mehrgarh, Pakistan, allowed the recovery of several threads, preserved by mineralization. They were characterized according to new procedure, combining the use of a reflected-light microscope and a scanning electron microscope, and identified as cotton (Gossypium sp.). The Mehrgarh fibres constitute the earliest known example of cotton in the Old World and put the date of the first use of this textile plant back by more than a millennium. Even though it is not possible to ascertain that the fibres came from an already domesticated species, the evidence suggests an early origin, possibly in the Kachi Plain, of one of the Old World cottons.</ref><ref name="JIAPAN2018">{{cite journal |last1=Jia |first1=Yinhua |last2=Pan |first2=Zhaoe |last3=He |first3=Shoupu |last4=Gong |first4=Wenfang |last5=Geng |first5=Xiaoli |last6=Pang |first6=Baoyin |last7=Wang |first7=Liru |last8=Du |first8=Xiongming |title=Genetic diversity and population structure of Gossypium arboreum L. collected in China |journal=Journal of Cotton Research |date=December 2018 |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=11 |doi=10.1186/s42397-018-0011-0 |bibcode=2018JCotR...1...11J |doi-access=free |quote=Gossypium arboreum is a diploid species cultivated in the Old World. It was first domesticated near the Indus Valley before 6000 BC (Moulherat et al. 2002).}}</ref>  Fragments of cotton textiles have been found at [[Mohenjo-daro]] and other sites of the [[Bronze Age]] [[Indus Valley civilization]], and cotton may have been an important export from it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Mukhtar |title=Ancient Pakistan - an Archaeological History: Volume III: Harappan Civilization - the Material Culture |date=2014 |publisher=Amazon |isbn=978-1-4959-6643-9 |page=249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qvVBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA249 }}</ref>

====Americas====
Cotton bolls discovered in a cave near [[Tehuacán, Puebla|Tehuacán]], Mexico, have been
dated to as early as 5500 BC, but this date has been challenged.<ref>Jonathan D. Sauer, ''Historical Geography of Crop Plants: A Select Roster'', Routledge (2017), [https://books.google.com/books?id=moZHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT115 p. 115]</ref> More securely dated is the domestication of ''[[Gossypium hirsutum]]'' in Mexico between around 3400 and 2300 BC.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Huckell|first=Lisa W.|title=Plant Remains from the Pinaleño Cotton Cache, Arizona|journal=Kiva, the Journal of Southwest Anthropology and History|volume=59|issue=2|year=1993|jstor=30246122|pages=147–203}}</ref> During this time, people between the Río Santiago and the Río Balsas grew, spun, wove, dyed, and sewed cotton. What they did not use themselves, they sent to their Aztec rulers as tribute, on the scale of ~116 million pounds annually.<ref>Beckert, S. (2014). Chapter one: The Rise of a Global Community. In Empire of Cotton: A global history. essay, Vintage Books.</ref>

In [[Peru]], cultivation of the indigenous cotton species ''[[Gossypium barbadense]]'' has been dated, from a find in Ancon, to {{Circa|4200 BC}},<ref>{{Google books|FauFCwAAQBAJ|New World Cotton|page=117}} in {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-27096-8_4 |chapter=Genetic Improvement of Cotton |title=Gene Pool Diversity and Crop Improvement |series=Sustainable Development and Biodiversity |year=2016 |last1=Manickam |first1=S. |last2=Prakash |first2=A. H. |volume=10 |pages=105–161 |isbn=978-3-319-27094-4 }}</ref> and was the backbone of the development of coastal cultures such as the [[Norte Chico civilization|Norte Chico]], [[Moche culture|Moche]], and [[Nazca culture|Nazca]]. Cotton was grown upriver, made into nets, and traded with fishing villages along the coast for large supplies of fish. The Spanish who came to Mexico and Peru in the early 16th century found the people growing cotton and wearing clothing made of it.

====Arabia====
The Greeks and the Arabs were not familiar with cotton until the [[Wars of Alexander the Great]], as his contemporary [[Megasthenes]] told [[Seleucus I Nicator]] of "there being trees on which wool grows" in "Indica."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simon |first=Matt |date=8 August 2013 |title=The Most Bonkers Scientific Theories (Almost) Nobody Believes Anymore |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/the-most-bonkers-scientific-theories-and-why-you-should-be-thankful-for-them/ |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Wired |language=en-US}}</ref> This may be a reference to "tree cotton", ''[[Gossypium arboreum]],'' which is native to the Indian subcontinent.

According to the ''[[Columbia Encyclopedia]]'':<ref name=ce>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140923071411/https://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/cotton "cotton"] in ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. 2001–07.</ref>

{{Blockquote|Cotton has been spun, woven, and dyed since prehistoric times. It clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, and their use spread to the Mediterranean countries.}}

====Iran====
In Iran ([[Persia]]), the history of cotton dates back to the [[Achaemenid]] era (5th century BC); however, there are few sources about the planting of cotton in pre-Islamic Iran. Cotton cultivation was common in [[Merv]], [[Ray, Iran|Ray]] and [[Fārs Province|Pars]]. In [[Persian poetry|Persian]] poems, especially [[Ferdowsi]]'s [[Shahname]], there are references to cotton ("panbe" in [[Persian language|Persian]]). [[Marco Polo]] (13th century) refers to the major products of Persia, including cotton. [[John Chardin]], a French traveler of the 17th century who visited [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid Persia]], spoke approvingly of the vast cotton farms of Persia.<ref>[[Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation]] {{Cite web |url=http://www.encyclopaediaislamica.com/madkhal2.php?sid=2820 |title=پنبه |access-date=28 February 2009 |archive-date=30 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630080822/http://www.encyclopaediaislamica.com/madkhal2.php?sid=2820 |url-status=bot: unknown }}, Retrieved on 28 February 2009.</ref>

====Kingdom of Kush====
Cotton (''Gossypium herbaceum'' Linnaeus) may have been domesticated 5000 BC in eastern [[Sudan]] near the Middle Nile Basin region, where cotton cloth was being produced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/ancient_egyptian_cotton/|title=Ancient Egyptian cotton unveils secrets of domesticated crop evolution|website=www2.warwick.ac.uk|access-date=2016-11-21}}</ref> Around the 4th century BC, the cultivation of cotton and the knowledge of its spinning and weaving in [[Meroë]] reached a high level. The export of textiles was one of the sources of wealth for Meroë. Ancient Nubia had a "culture of cotton" of sorts, evidenced by physical evidence of cotton processing tools and the presence of cattle in certain areas. Some researchers propose that cotton was important to the Nubian economy for its use in contact with the neighboring Egyptians.<ref name="Yvanez & Wozniak 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Yvanez |first1=Elsa |last2=Wozniak |first2=Magdalena M. |title=Cotton in ancient Sudan and Nubia: Archaeological sources and historical implications |journal=Revue d'ethnoécologie |date=30 June 2019 |issue=15 |doi=10.4000/ethnoecologie.4429 |s2cid=198635772 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite]] King [[Ezana]] boasted in his inscription that he destroyed large cotton plantations in Meroë during his conquest of the region.<ref>{{cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gB6DcMU94GUC&q=cultivation+cotton+Meroe&pg=PA310 | title= Ancient civilizations of Africa |author= G. Mokhtar | publisher= Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa |page= 310 |via = Books.google.com |access-date= 2012-06-19 |isbn= 978-0-435-94805-4|date= 1981-01-01}}</ref>

In the Meroitic Period (beginning 3rd century BCE), many cotton textiles have been recovered, preserved due to favorable arid conditions.<ref name="Yvanez & Wozniak 2019"/> Most of these fabric fragments come from Lower Nubia, and the cotton textiles account for 85% of the archaeological textiles from Classic/Late Meroitic sites.<ref name=Yvanez2018/> Due to these arid conditions, cotton, a plant that usually thrives moderate rainfall and richer soils, requires extra irrigation and labor in Sudanese climate conditions. Therefore, a great deal of resources would have been required, likely restricting its cultivation to the elite.<ref name=Yvanez2018>{{cite journal |last1=Yvanez |first1=Elsa |title=Clothing the Elite? Patterns of Textile Production and Consumption in Ancient Sudan and Nubia |journal=Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae |date=2018 |volume=31 |pages=81–92 |doi=10.23858/FAH31.2018.006 |url=https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?showContent=true&id=67584 }}</ref> In the first to third centuries CE, recovered cotton fragments all began to mirror the same style and production method, as seen from the direction of spun cotton and technique of weaving.<ref name=Yvanez2018/> Cotton textiles also appear in places of high regard, such as on funerary stelae and statues.<ref name=Yvanez2018/>

====China====
During the [[Han dynasty]] (207 BC - 220 AD), cotton was grown by Chinese peoples in the southern Chinese province of [[Yunnan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/textilesofsouthe0000maxw|url-access=registration|title=Textiles of Southeast Asia: tradition, trade and transformation|author=Maxwell, Robyn J. |year=2003|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|edition=revised|isbn=978-0-7946-0104-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/textilesofsouthe0000maxw/page/410 410]}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
====Eastern world====
[[Egypt]]ians grew and spun cotton in the first seven centuries of the Christian era.<ref name=International>{{cite book|title = The International Cotton Trade|author = Roche, Julian|publisher = Woodhead Publishing Ltd.|location = Cambridge, England|year = 1994|page = 5}}</ref>

Handheld roller [[cotton gin]]s had been used in India since the 6th century, and was then introduced to other countries from there.<ref name=LakGin>{{cite book|ref=Lakwete|author=Lakwete, Angela|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOMaGVnPfBcC|title=Inventing the Cotton Gin: Machine and Myth in Antebellum America|place=Baltimore|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8018-7394-2|pages=1–6|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529151903/https://books.google.com/books?id=uOMaGVnPfBcC|archive-date=29 May 2016}}</ref> Between the 12th and 14th centuries, dual-roller gins appeared in India and China. The Indian version of the dual-roller gin was prevalent throughout the Mediterranean cotton trade by the 16th century. This mechanical device was, in some areas, driven by water power.<ref name=Baber1>Baber, Zaheer (1996). ''The Science of Empire: Scientific Knowledge, Civilization, and Colonial Rule in India''. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 57. {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2919-8}}.</ref>

The earliest clear illustrations of the [[spinning wheel]] come from the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] in the eleventh century.<ref name=MIT>{{cite book | last = Pacey | first = Arnold | title = Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History | orig-date = 1990 | edition = First MIT Press paperback | year = 1991 | publisher = The MIT Press | location = Cambridge MA}}</ref> The earliest unambiguous reference to a spinning wheel in India is dated to 1350, suggesting that the spinning wheel was likely introduced from Iran to India during the [[Delhi Sultanate]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Pacey | first = Arnold | title = Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History | orig-date = 1990 | edition = First MIT Press paperback | year = 1991 | publisher = The MIT Press | location = Cambridge MA | pages = 23–24}}</ref>

====Europe====
[[File:Mandeville cotton.jpg|thumb|Cotton plants as imagined and drawn by [[John Mandeville]] in the 14th century]]
During the late medieval period, cotton became known as an imported fiber in northern Europe, without any knowledge of how it was derived, other than that it was a plant. Because [[Herodotus]] had written in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'', Book III, 106, that in India trees grew in the wild producing wool, it was assumed that the plant was a tree, rather than a shrub. This aspect is retained in the name for cotton in several Germanic languages, such as German ''[[wikt:Baumwolle|Baumwolle]]'', which translates as "tree wool" (''Baum'' means "tree"; ''Wolle'' means "wool"). Noting its similarities to wool, people in the region could only imagine that cotton must be produced by plant-borne sheep. [[John Mandeville]], writing in 1350, stated as fact that "There grew there [India] a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungry." (See [[Vegetable Lamb of Tartary]].)[[File:Vegetable lamb (Lee, 1887).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Vegetable Lamb of Tartary]]]]
Cotton manufacture was introduced to Europe during the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula]] [[Muslim conquest of Sicily|and Sicily]]. The knowledge of cotton weaving was spread to northern Italy in the 12th century, when [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|Sicily was conquered by the Normans]], and consequently to the rest of Europe. The [[spinning wheel]], introduced to Europe circa 1350, improved the speed of cotton spinning.<ref name=Middle>{{cite web|title = Technology in the Middle Ages|author = Backer, Patricia|access-date = 12 June 2011|work = History of Technology|url = http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/pabacker/history/middle.htm|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130508045210/http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/pabacker/history/middle.htm|archive-date = 8 May 2013}}</ref> By the 15th century, [[Venice]], [[Antwerp]], and [[Haarlem]] were important ports for cotton trade, and the sale and transportation of cotton fabrics had become very profitable.<ref name=Facts>{{cite encyclopedia|title = cotton|author = Volti, Rudi|encyclopedia = The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society|year = 1999|url = http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE49\&iPin=ffests0220}}</ref>

===Early modern period===
====Mughal India====
{{Main|Mughal Empire|Muslin trade in Bengal}}
{{Further|Economic history of India}}
[[File:Renaldis muslin woman.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|A woman in [[Dhaka]] clad in fine [[Muslin trade in Bengal|Bengali muslin]], 18th century]]

Under the [[Mughal Empire]], which ruled in the [[Indian subcontinent]] from the early 16th century to the early 18th century, Indian cotton production increased, in terms of both raw cotton and cotton textiles. The Mughals introduced [[agrarian reform]]s such as a new revenue system that was biased in favour of higher value [[cash crops]] such as cotton and [[indigo]], providing state incentives to grow cash crops, in addition to rising market demand.<ref name="richards">[[John F. Richards]] (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA190 ''The Mughal Empire'', page 190] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220230104/https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA190 |date=20 December 2017 }}, [[Cambridge University Press]]</ref>

The largest [[manufacturing]] industry in the Mughal Empire was cotton [[textile manufacturing]], which included the production of [[wikt:piece goods|piece goods]], [[calico]]s, and [[muslin]]s, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton [[textile industry]] was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade.<ref name="schmidt">Karl J. Schmidt (2015), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 ''An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History'', page 100] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220230104/https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |date=20 December 2017 }}, [[Routledge]]</ref> India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.<ref>[[Angus Maddison]] (1995), ''Monitoring the World Economy, 1820-1992'', [[OECD]], p. 30</ref> Indian cotton [[textile]]s were the most important [[manufactured goods]] in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the [[Americas]] to [[Japan]].<ref name="Parthasarathi">{{Citation |title=Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850 |given=Prasannan |surname=Parthasarathi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-139-49889-0 |page=2}}</ref> The most important center of cotton production was the [[Bengal Subah]] province, particularly around its capital city of [[Dhaka]].<ref name="Eaton">Richard Maxwell Eaton (1996), [https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA202 ''The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760'', page 202] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627124201/http://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA202 |date=27 June 2014 }}, [[University of California Press]]</ref>

The [[worm gear]] roller [[cotton gin]], which was invented in India during the early [[Delhi Sultanate]] era of the 13th–14th centuries, came into use in the Mughal Empire some time around the 16th century,<ref>[[Irfan Habib]] (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA53 ''Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500'', page 53], [[Pearson Education]]</ref> and is still used in India through to the present day.<ref name="LakGin"/> Another innovation, the incorporation of the [[Crank (mechanism)|crank]] handle in the cotton gin, first appeared in India some time during the late Delhi Sultanate or the early Mughal Empire.<ref>[[Irfan Habib]] (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA53 ''Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500'', pages 53-54], [[Pearson Education]]</ref> The production of cotton, which may have largely been spun in the villages and then taken to towns in the form of yarn to be woven into cloth textiles, was advanced by the diffusion of the [[spinning wheel]] across India shortly before the Mughal era, lowering the costs of yarn and helping to increase demand for cotton. The diffusion of the spinning wheel, and the incorporation of the worm gear and crank handle into the roller cotton gin, led to greatly expanded Indian cotton textile production during the Mughal era.<ref>[[Irfan Habib]] (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA54 ''Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500'', page 54], [[Pearson Education]]</ref>

It was reported that, with an Indian cotton gin, which is half machine and half tool, one man and one woman could clean 28 pounds of cotton per day. With a modified Forbes version, one man and a boy could produce 250 pounds per day. If oxen were used to power 16 of these machines, and a few people's labour was used to feed them, they could produce as much work as 750 people did formerly.<ref>[[Karl Marx]] (1867). Chapter 16: "Machinery and Large-Scale Industry." ''[[Das Kapital]]''.</ref>

====Egypt====
{{Main|History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty}}
[[File:Cotton Picking in Egypt.tif|thumb|A group of Egyptian [[fellah]]s picking cotton by hand]]
In the early 19th century, a Frenchman named M. Jumel proposed to the great ruler of Egypt, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Mohamed Ali Pasha]], that he could earn a substantial income by growing an extra-long staple Maho (''[[Gossypium barbadense]]'') cotton, in [[Lower Egypt]], for the French market. Mohamed Ali Pasha accepted the proposition and granted himself the monopoly on the sale and export of cotton in [[Egypt]]; and later dictated cotton should be grown in preference to other crops.

[[Egypt under Muhammad Ali]] in the early 19th century had the fifth most productive cotton industry in the world, in terms of the number of [[Spindle (textiles)|spindles]] per capita.<ref>{{cite book|title=Between Development and Underdevelopment: The Precocious Attempts at Industrialization of the Periphery, 1800-1870|author=Jean Batou|publisher=[[:fr:Librairie Droz|Librairie Droz]]|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjD4SCOE6IgC|page=181|isbn=978-2-600-04293-2}}</ref> The industry was initially driven by machinery that relied on traditional energy sources, such as [[animal power]], [[water wheel]]s, and [[windmill]]s, which were also the principal energy sources in Western Europe up until around 1870.<ref name="batou193">{{cite book|title=Between Development and Underdevelopment: The Precocious Attempts at Industrialization of the Periphery, 1800-1870|author=Jean Batou|publisher=[[:fr:Librairie Droz|Librairie Droz]]|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjD4SCOE6IgC&pg=PA193|pages=193–196|isbn=978-2-600-04293-2}}</ref> It was under Muhammad Ali in the early 19th century that [[steam engine]]s were introduced to the Egyptian cotton industry.<ref name="batou193"/>

By the time of the American Civil war annual exports had reached $16 million (120,000 bales), which rose to $56 million by 1864, primarily due to the loss of the Confederate supply on the world market. Exports continued to grow even after the reintroduction of US cotton, produced now by a paid workforce, and Egyptian exports reached 1.2 million bales a year by 1903.

===Britain===
====East India Company====
{{Main|Calico Acts|Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution}}

[[File:Cotton bales at the port in Bombay in the 1860s.JPG|thumb|[[Cotton bale]]s at the port in [[Bombay]], India, 1860s]]

The [[English East India Company]] (EIC) introduced the British to cheap [[Calico (textile)|calico]] and [[chintz]] cloth on the restoration of the monarchy in the 1660s. Initially imported as a novelty side line, from its spice trading posts in Asia, the cheap colourful cloth proved popular and overtook the EIC's spice trade by value in the late 17th century. The EIC embraced the demand, particularly for [[Calico (textile)|calico]], by expanding its factories in Asia and producing and importing cloth in bulk, creating competition for domestic woollen and linen textile producers. The impacted weavers, spinners, dyers, shepherds and farmers objected and the calico question became one of the major issues of National politics between the 1680s and the 1730s. Parliament began to see a decline in domestic textile sales, and an increase in imported textiles from places like [[China]] and [[India]]. Seeing the East India Company and their textile importation as a threat to domestic textile businesses, Parliament passed the 1700 Calico Act, blocking the importation of cotton cloth. As there was no punishment for continuing to sell cotton cloth, smuggling of the popular material became commonplace. In 1721, dissatisfied with the results of the first act, Parliament passed a stricter addition, this time prohibiting the sale of most cottons, imported and domestic (exempting only thread [[Fustian]] and raw cotton). The exemption of raw cotton from the prohibition initially saw 2 thousand bales of cotton imported annually, to become the basis of a new indigenous industry, initially producing [[Fustian]] for the domestic market, though more importantly triggering the development of a series of mechanised spinning and weaving technologies, to process the material. This mechanised production was concentrated in new [[cotton mill]]s, which slowly expanded until by the beginning of the 1770s seven thousand bales of cotton were imported annually, and pressure was put on Parliament, by the new mill owners, to remove the prohibition on the production and sale of pure cotton cloth, as they could easily compete with anything the EIC could import.

The acts were repealed in 1774, triggering a wave of investment in mill-based cotton spinning and production, doubling the demand for raw cotton within a couple of years, and doubling it again every decade, into the 1840s.<ref name="Broadberry & Gupta 2005"/>

Indian cotton textiles, particularly those from [[Bengal Subah|Bengal]], continued to maintain a competitive advantage up until the 19th century. In order to compete with India, Britain invested in labour-saving technical progress, while implementing [[protectionist]] policies such as bans and [[tariff]]s to restrict Indian imports.<ref name="Broadberry & Gupta 2005">{{cite web |last1=Broadberry |first1=Stephen N. |last2=Gupta |first2=Bishnupriya |title=Cotton Textiles and the Great Divergence: Lancashire, India and Shifting Competitive Advantage, 1600-1850 |website=Centre for Economic Policy Research |date=August 2005 |series=CEPR Press Discussion Paper No. 5183 |ssrn=790866 |url=https://cepr.org/publications/dp5183 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> At the same time, the East India Company's [[Company rule in India|rule in India]] contributed to its [[deindustrialization]], opening up a new market for British goods,<ref name="Broadberry & Gupta 2005"/> while the capital amassed from Bengal after its [[Battle of Plassey|1757 conquest]] was used to invest in British industries such as textile manufacturing and greatly increase British wealth.<ref name="tong">Junie T. Tong (2016), [https://books.google.com/books?id=_UQGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 ''Finance and Society in 21st Century China: Chinese Culture Versus Western Markets'', page 151], [[CRC Press]]</ref><ref name="esposito">[[John L. Esposito]] (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 ''The Islamic World: Past and Present 3-Volume Set'', page 190] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220230104/https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |date=20 December 2017 }}, [[Oxford University Press]]</ref> British colonization also forced open the large Indian market to British goods, which could be sold in India without tariffs or [[Duty (economics)|duties]], compared to local Indian producers who were heavily [[tax]]ed, while raw cotton was imported from India without tariffs to British factories which manufactured textiles from Indian cotton, giving Britain a monopoly over India's large market and cotton resources.<ref name="Cypher">{{cite book|title=The Process of Economic Development|author=James Cypher|year=2014|publisher=[[Routledge]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxFxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA97|isbn=978-1-136-16828-4}}</ref><ref name="Broadberry & Gupta 2005"/><ref name="Bairoch">{{cite book |last1=Bairoch |first1=Paul |author-link=Paul Bairoch |title=Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes |date=1995 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-03463-8 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaF_cCknJScC&pg=PA89 }}</ref> India served as both a significant supplier of raw goods to British manufacturers and a large [[captive market]] for British manufactured goods.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India|first1=Henry |last1=Yule |author-link1=Henry Yule |first2=A. C. |last2=Burnell |author-link2=A. C. Burnell |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2013|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NXOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|isbn=978-1-317-25293-1}}</ref> Britain eventually surpassed India as the world's leading cotton textile manufacturer in the 19th century.<ref name="Broadberry & Gupta 2005"/>

India's cotton-processing sector changed during EIC expansion in India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. From focusing on supplying the British market to supplying East Asia with raw cotton.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1163/9789047429975_006 |chapter=British Exports of Raw Cotton from India to China during the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries |title=How India Clothed the World |year=2013 |pages=115–137 |isbn=978-90-474-2997-5 |first1=H. V. |last1=Bowen |publisher=Brill |editor1-first=Giorgio |editor1-last=Riello |editor2-first=Tirthankar |editor2-last=Roy |jstor=10.1163/j.ctv2gjwskd.12 |jstor-access=free |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctv2gjwskd.12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120040905/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1163/j.ctv2gjwskd.12.pdf |archive-date= Jan 20, 2024 }}</ref> As the Artisan produced textiles were no longer competitive with those produced Industrially, and Europe preferring the cheaper slave produced, long staple American, and Egyptian cottons, for its own materials.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}}

====Industrial Revolution====
{{Main|Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution}}
The advent of the [[Industrial Revolution]] in Britain provided a great boost to cotton manufacture, as textiles emerged as Britain's leading export. In 1738, [[Lewis Paul]] and [[John Wyatt (inventor)|John Wyatt]], of [[Birmingham]], England, patented the roller spinning machine, as well as the flyer-and-bobbin system for drawing cotton to a more even thickness using two sets of rollers that traveled at different speeds. Later, the invention of the [[James Hargreaves]]' [[spinning jenny]] in 1764, [[Richard Arkwright]]'s [[spinning frame]] in 1769 and [[Samuel Crompton]]'s [[spinning mule]] in 1775 enabled British spinners to produce cotton yarn at much higher rates. From the late 18th century on, the British city of [[Manchester]] acquired the nickname ''"[[Cottonopolis]]"'' due to the cotton industry's omnipresence within the city, and Manchester's role as the heart of the global cotton trade.<ref>{{Cite OED|Cottonopolis}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Lowe |first= J |year= 1854 |title= A Manchester warehouse |journal= [[Household Words]] |volume= 9 |pages= 269 }}</ref>

[[File:William L. Sheppard - First use of the Cotton Gin, Harper's weekly, 18 Dec. 1869, p. 813.png|thumb|Slaves using an early cotton gin (prior to Whitney's developed version) to help harvest and process the cotton. Illustration in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', 1869 depicting late 18th-century America.]]
[[File:MapCotton-1907-2023.jpg|alt=World map of cotton cultivation and export routes in 1907|thumb|World map of cotton cultivation and export routes in 1907]]
Production capacity in Britain and the United States was improved by the invention of the modern [[cotton gin]] by the American [[Eli Whitney]] in 1793. Before the development of cotton gins, the cotton fibers had to be pulled from the seeds tediously by hand. By the late 1700s, a number of crude ginning machines had been developed. However, to produce a bale of cotton required over 600 hours of human labor,<ref name=r1>{{cite journal |title=100 Years of Cotton Production, Harvesting, and Ginning Systems Engineering: 1907-2007 |journal=Transactions of the ASABE |date=2008 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=1187–1198 |doi=10.13031/2013.25234 |first1=S. E. |last1=Hughs |first2=T. D. |last2=Valco |first3=J. R. |last3=Williford }}</ref> making large-scale production uneconomical in the United States, even with the use of humans as slave labor. The gin that Whitney manufactured (the Holmes design) reduced the hours down to just a dozen or so per bale. Although Whitney patented his own design for a cotton gin, he manufactured a prior design from Henry Odgen Holmes, for which Holmes filed a patent in 1796.<ref name=r1/> Improving technology and increasing control of world markets allowed British traders to develop a commercial chain in which raw cotton fibers were (at first) purchased from [[British Empire|colonial]] [[plantations]], processed into cotton cloth in the mills of [[Lancashire]], and then exported on British ships to captive colonial markets in [[British West Africa|West Africa]], [[British Raj|India]], and China (via Shanghai and Hong Kong).

By the 1840s, India was no longer capable of supplying the vast quantities of cotton fibers needed by mechanized British factories, while shipping bulky, low-price cotton from India to Britain was time-consuming and expensive. This, coupled with the emergence of American cotton as a superior type (due to the longer, stronger fibers of the two domesticated native American species, ''[[Gossypium hirsutum]]'' and ''[[Gossypium barbadense]]''), encouraged British traders to purchase cotton from [[Plantations in the American South|plantations in the United States]] and in the [[Caribbean]]. By the mid-19th century, "[[King Cotton]]" had become the backbone of the [[antebellum South|southern American]] economy. In the United States, cultivating and harvesting cotton became the leading occupation of [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]].

During the [[American Civil War]], American cotton exports slumped due to a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[blockade]] on [[Confederate States of America|Southern]] [[port]]s, and because of a strategic decision by the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] government to cut exports, hoping to force Britain to recognize the Confederacy or enter the war. The [[Lancashire Cotton Famine]] prompted the main purchasers of cotton, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and [[France]], to turn to [[Egypt]]ian cotton. British and French traders invested heavily in cotton plantations. The Egyptian government of [[Isma'il Pasha|Viceroy Isma'il]] took out substantial loans from European bankers and stock exchanges. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, British and French traders abandoned [[Egyptian cotton]] and returned to cheap American exports,{{citation needed|reason=I've seen this the other way round with the South suffering because British interests in Egypt persisted and they liked the product better|date=September 2012}} sending Egypt into a deficit spiral that led to the country declaring [[bankruptcy]] in 1876, a key factor behind Egypt's [[History of Egypt under the British|occupation by the British Empire in 1882]].
[[File:Espanya Industrial - segle XIX.jpg|thumb|Espanya Industrial" cotton factory, in Sants, Barcelona in the late 19th century.]]

During this time, cotton cultivation in the [[British Empire]], especially Australia and India, greatly increased to replace the lost production of the American South. Through tariffs and other restrictions, the British government discouraged the production of cotton cloth in India; rather, the raw fiber was sent to England for processing. The Indian [[Gandhi, Mohandas K.|Mahatma Gandhi]] described the process:

#English people buy Indian cotton in the field, picked by Indian labor at seven cents a day, through an optional monopoly.
#This cotton is shipped on British ships, a three-week journey across the Indian Ocean, down the Red Sea, across the Mediterranean, through Gibraltar, across the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean to London. One hundred per cent profit on this freight is regarded as small.
#The cotton is turned into cloth in Lancashire. You pay shilling wages instead of Indian pennies to your workers. The English worker not only has the advantage of better wages, but the steel companies of England get the profit of building the factories and machines. Wages; profits; all these are spent in England.
#The finished product is sent back to India at European shipping rates, once again on British ships. The captains, officers, sailors of these ships, whose wages must be paid, are English. The only Indians who profit are a few [[lascar]]s who do the dirty work on the boats for a few cents a day.
#The cloth is finally sold back to the kings and landlords of India who got the money to buy this expensive cloth out of the poor peasants of India who worked at seven cents a day.<ref>(Fisher 1932 pp 154–156){{full citation needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>

===United States===
{{Main|Cotton production in the United States|Black Belt in the American South}}
[[File:Mississippi Plantation.jpg|alt=Pictured is a black and white photograph, with a small African American boy in the center. He holds a basket of picked cotton. Behind him is his family bending over cotton plants. The picture is duplicated and the surrounding frame is that of a Keystone manufacturing company.|thumb|A black family works a cotton plantation in Mississippi. The subtitle on the image reads "We's done all dis's mornin'".]]
In the United States, growing Southern cotton generated significant wealth and capital for the antebellum South, as well as raw material for Northern textile industries. Before 1865 the cotton was largely produced through the labor of enslaved African Americans. It enriched both the Southern landowners and the new textile industries of the Northeastern United States and northwestern Europe. In 1860 the slogan "[[King Cotton|Cotton is king]]" characterized the attitude of Southern leaders toward this [[monocrop]] in that Europe would support an independent [[Confederate states of America|Confederate States of America]] in 1861 in order to protect the supply of cotton it needed for its very large textile industry.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Owsley |first1=Frank Lawrence |title=The Confederacy and King Cotton: A Study in Economic Coercion |journal=The North Carolina Historical Review |date=1929 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=371–397 |jstor=23514836 }}</ref>
[[File:Adams & Bazemore Cotton Warehouse, 4th near Poplar, circa 1877 - DPLA - 7e9ab74033df525c16cfacddfb85955f.jpeg|thumb|Adams & Bazemore Cotton Warehouse, Macon, Georgia, {{Circa|1877}}]] Russell Griffin of California was a farmer who farmed one of the biggest cotton operations. He produced over sixty thousand bales.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=D. Clayton |title=King Cotton in Modern America: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945 |date=2011 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-932-5 }}{{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
Cotton remained a key crop in the Southern economy after slavery ended in 1865. Across the South, [[sharecropping]] evolved, in which landless farmers worked land owned by others in return for a share of the profits. Some farmers rented the land and bore the production costs themselves. Until mechanical [[cotton picker]]s were developed, cotton farmers needed additional labor to hand-pick cotton. Picking cotton was a source of income for families across the South. Rural and small town school systems had split vacations so children could work in the fields during "cotton-picking."<ref>Rupert B. Vance, ''Human factors in cotton culture; a study in the social geography of the American South'' (U of North Carolina Press, 1929) [https://archive.org/details/humanfactorsinco00vancrich online free]
</ref>

During the middle 20th century, employment in cotton farming fell, as machines began to replace laborers and the South's rural labor force dwindled during the World Wars. Cotton remains a major export of the United States, with large farms in California, Arizona and the [[Deep South]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=D. Clayton |title=King Cotton in Modern America: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945 |date=2011 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-932-5 }}{{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref> To acknowledge cotton's place in the history and heritage of Texas, the [[Texas Legislature]] designated cotton the official "State Fiber and Fabric of Texas" in 1997.

===The Moon===
China's [[Chang'e 4]] spacecraft took cotton seeds to the [[Far side of the Moon|Moon's far side]]. On 15 January 2019, China announced that a cotton seed sprouted, the first "truly otherworldly plant in history". Inside the [[Von Kármán (lunar crater)|Von Kármán Crater]], the capsule and seeds sit inside the Chang'e 4 lander.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.space.com/43012-china-cotton-seed-moon-far-side-chang-e4.html|title=Cotton Seed Sprouts on the Moon's Far Side in Historic First by China's Chang'e 4|last1=Bartels|first1=Meghan|last2=January 15|first2=Space com Senior Writer {{!}}|website=Space.com|access-date=2019-01-15|last3=ET|first3=2019 11:47am|date=15 January 2019}}</ref>

==Cultivation==
[[File:Cottonfieldindia.jpg|thumb|Cotton field at Singalandapuram, Rasipuram, India (2017)]]
[[File:Cotton field, Ware County, GA, US.jpg|thumb|Cotton field]]
[[File:Cotton plant, Ware County, GA, US.jpg|right|thumb|Cotton plant with ''[[Ipomoea quamoclit]]'' vine]]
[[File:Cotton field, late in season.jpg|thumb|A cotton field, late in the season]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-029895, Togo, Pflügen eines Baumwollfeldes.jpg|thumb|Cotton [[plowing]] in [[Togo]], 1928]]
[[File:Armenian cotton.jpg|thumb|Picking cotton in [[Armenia]] in the 1930s. No cotton is grown there today.]]
[[File:Cotton Ready for Shipment, Houston, Texas.jpg|thumb|Cotton ready for shipment, [[Houston, Texas]] (postcard, circa 1911)]]
[[File:Cotton modules.JPG|thumb|Cotton modules in Australia (2007)]]
[[File:Transport of cotton west of Walgett.JPG|thumb|Round cotton modules in Australia (2014)]]

Successful cultivation of cotton requires a long [[frost]]-free period, plenty of sunshine, and a moderate rainfall, usually from {{convert|50|to|100|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}}.{{Cn|date=May 2024}} [[Soil]]s usually need to be fairly [[Soil morphology#Porosity|heavy]], although the level of [[nutrient]]s does not need to be exceptional. In general, these conditions are met within the seasonally dry tropics and subtropics in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but a large proportion of the cotton grown today is cultivated in areas with less rainfall that obtain the water from irrigation. Production of the crop for a given year usually starts soon after harvesting the preceding autumn. Cotton is naturally a perennial but is grown as an annual to help control pests.<ref>[http://www.cottonspinning.com/grow/plantingcottonseeds.html "Planting Cotton Seeds"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227062910/http://www.cottonspinning.com/grow/plantingcottonseeds.html |date=27 February 2015 }}. ''cottonspinning.com''.</ref> Planting time in spring in the Northern hemisphere varies from the beginning of February to the beginning of June. The area of the United States known as the [[South Plains]] is the largest [[Geographic contiguity|contiguous]] cotton-growing region in the world. While [[Dryland farming|dryland]] (non-irrigated) cotton is successfully grown in this region, consistent yields are only produced with heavy reliance on [[irrigation]] water drawn from the [[Ogallala Aquifer]]. Since cotton is somewhat salt and drought tolerant, this makes it an attractive crop for arid and semiarid regions. As [[water resources]] get tighter around the world, economies that rely on it face difficulties and conflict, as well as potential environmental problems.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wegerich | first1 = K. | year = 2002 | title = Natural drought or human-made water scarcity in Uzbekistan? | url = http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=1776 | journal = Central Asia and the Caucasus | volume = 2 | pages = 154–162 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121027155313/http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=1776 | archive-date = 27 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Keepers of the Spring|year=2004|isbn=978-1-55963-681-0|author=Pearce, Fred|publisher=Island Press|pages=109–122|chapter=9 "A Salty Hell"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.11.027| title = The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries| journal = Ecological Economics| volume = 60| pages = 186–203| year = 2006| last1 = Chapagain | first1 = A. K. | last2 = Hoekstra | first2 = A. Y. | last3 = Savenije | first3 = H. H. G. | last4 = Gautam | first4 = R.| issue = 1| bibcode = 2006EcoEc..60..186C| s2cid = 154788067| url = https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/files/6843583/water_footprint_of_cotton_consumption.pdf}}</ref><ref name="AF">{{cite book|title=The Arid Frontier|isbn=978-0-7923-4227-4|publisher=Springer|year=1998|first=Monique| last=Mainguet|author2=Létolle, René |chapter=Human-made Desertification in the Aral Sea Basin|pages=129–145}}</ref><ref name="GT">{{cite journal |last1=Waltham |first1=Tony |last2=Sholji |first2=Ihsan |title=The demise of the Aral Sea - an environmental disaster |journal=Geology Today |date=November 2001 |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=218–228 |doi=10.1046/j.0266-6979.2001.00319.x |bibcode=2001GeolT..17..218W |s2cid=129962159 }}</ref> For example, improper cropping and irrigation practices have led to [[desertification]] in areas of [[Uzbekistan]], where cotton is a major export. In the days of the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Aral Sea]] was tapped for agricultural irrigation, largely of cotton, and now [[salination]] is widespread.<ref name="AF" /><ref name="GT" />

Cotton can also be cultivated to have colors other than the yellowish off-white typical of modern commercial cotton fibers. [[Naturally colored cotton]] can come in red, green, and several shades of brown.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-981-10-8782-0_4 |chapter=Naturally Colored Organic Cotton and Naturally Colored Cotton Fiber Production |title=Organic Cotton |series=Textile Science and Clothing Technology |year=2019 |last1=Günaydin |first1=Gizem Karakan |last2=Avinc |first2=Ozan |last3=Palamutcu |first3=Sema |last4=Yavas |first4=Arzu |last5=Soydan |first5=Ali Serkan |pages=81–99 |isbn=978-981-10-8781-3 |s2cid=134541586 }}</ref>

=== Water footprint ===
The [[water footprint]] of cotton fibers is substantially larger than for most other plant fibers. Cotton is also known as a thirsty crop; on average, globally, cotton requires 8,000–10,000 liters of water for one kilogram of cotton, and in dry areas, it may require even more such as in some areas of India, it may need 22,500 liters.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-07-07|title=World Water Week|url=http://cottonconnect.org/world-water-week-2017/|access-date=2020-09-23|website=CottonConnect|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-03-20|title=World Water Day: the cost of cotton in water-challenged India|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/mar/20/cost-cotton-water-challenged-india-world-water-day|access-date=2020-09-23|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

===Genetic modification===
{{Main|Bt cotton}}
[[Genetic engineering|Genetically modified]] (<span class="ltr">GM</span>) cotton was developed to reduce the heavy reliance on pesticides. The bacterium ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'' (<span class="ltr">Bt</span>) naturally produces a chemical harmful only to a small fraction of insects, most notably the larvae of [[Lepidoptera|moths and butterflies]], [[Coleoptera|beetles]], and [[Diptera|flies]], and harmless to other forms of life.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Are Bt crops safe?|journal = Nature Biotechnology|date = 2003-01-01|volume = 21|issue = 9|doi = 10.1038/nbt0903-1003|first1 = Mike|last1 = Mendelsohn|first2 = John|last2 = Kough|first3 = Zigfridais|last3 = Vaituzis|first4 = Keith|last4 = Matthews|pmid=12949561|pages=1003–9|s2cid = 16392889|url = https://zenodo.org/record/1233343}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hellmich |first1=Richard L. |last2=Siegfried |first2=Blair D. |last3=Sears |first3=Mark K. |last4=Stanley-Horn |first4=Diane E. |last5=Daniels |first5=Michael J. |last6=Mattila |first6=Heather R. |last7=Spencer |first7=Terrence |last8=Bidne |first8=Keith G. |last9=Lewis |first9=Leslie C. |title=Monarch larvae sensitivity to Bacillus thuringiensis- purified proteins and pollen |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=9 October 2001 |volume=98 |issue=21 |pages=11925–11930 |doi=10.1073/pnas.211297698 |pmid=11559841 |pmc=59744 |bibcode=2001PNAS...9811925H |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rose |first1=Robyn |last2=Dively |first2=Galen P. |last3=Pettis |first3=Jeff |title=Effects of Bt corn pollen on honey bees: emphasis on protocol development |journal=Apidologie |date=July 2007 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=368–377 |doi=10.1051/apido:2007022 |s2cid=18256663 |url=https://www.apidologie.org/10.1051/apido:2007022/pdf }}</ref> The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton, causing cotton, called [[Bt cotton]], to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. In many regions, the main pests in commercial cotton are [[lepidoptera]]n larvae, which are killed by the Bt protein in the transgenic cotton they eat. This eliminates the need to use large amounts of broad-spectrum insecticides to kill lepidopteran pests (some of which have developed [[pyrethroid]] resistance). This spares natural insect predators in the farm ecology and further contributes to noninsecticide pest management.

However, Bt cotton is ineffective against many cotton pests, such as [[plant bug]]s, [[Halyomorpha halys|stink bugs]], and [[aphid]]s; depending on circumstances it may still be desirable to use insecticides against these. A 2006 study done by Cornell researchers, the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy and the Chinese Academy of Science on Bt cotton farming in China found that after seven years these secondary pests that were normally controlled by pesticide had increased, necessitating the use of pesticides at similar levels to non-Bt cotton and causing less profit for farmers because of the extra expense of GM seeds.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Cornell University|date=25 July 2006|title=Seven-year glitch: Cornell warns that Chinese GM cotton farmers are losing money due to 'secondary' pests|author=Lang, Susan|url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July06/Bt.cotton.China.ssl.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012044920/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July06/Bt.cotton.China.ssl.html|archive-date=12 October 2012}}</ref> However, a 2009 study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Stanford University and Rutgers University refuted this.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = Z. | last2 = Lin | first2 = H. | last3 = Huang | first3 = J. | last4 = Hu | first4 = R. | last5 = Rozelle | first5 = S. | last6 = Pray | first6 = C. | doi = 10.1016/S1671-2927(<span class="ltr">09</span>)60012-2 | title = Bt Cotton in China: Are Secondary Insect Infestations Offsetting the Benefits in Farmer Fields? | journal = Agricultural Sciences in China | volume = 8 | pages = 83–90 | year = 2009 }}</ref> They concluded that the GM cotton effectively controlled bollworm. The secondary pests were mostly miridae (plant bugs) whose increase was related to local temperature and rainfall and only continued to increase in half the villages studied. Moreover, the increase in insecticide use for the control of these secondary insects was far smaller than the reduction in total insecticide use due to Bt cotton adoption. A 2012 Chinese study concluded that Bt cotton halved the use of pesticides and doubled the level of ladybirds, lacewings and spiders.<ref name=20120613Guardian>Carrington, Damien (13 June 2012) [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jun/13/gm-crops-environment-study?INTCMP=SRCH GM crops good for environment, study finds] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005002523/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jun/13/gm-crops-environment-study?INTCMP=SRCH |date=5 October 2013 }} The Guardian, Retrieved 16 June 2012</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last1 = Lu y | first1 = W. K.| last2 = Wu | first2 = K.| last3 = Jiang | first3 = Y.| last4 = Guo | first4 = Y.| last5 = Desneux | first5 = N.| title = Widespread adoption of Bt cotton and insecticide decrease promotes biocontrol services| journal = Nature| volume = 487| issue = 7407| pages = 362–365| date=July 2012 | pmid = 22722864| doi = 10.1038/nature11153|bibcode = 2012Natur.487..362L | s2cid = 4415298}}</ref> The [[International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications]] (ISAAA) said that, worldwide, GM cotton was planted on an area of 25 million hectares in 2011.<ref name = ISAAA/> This was 69% of the worldwide total area planted in cotton.

GM cotton acreage in India grew at a rapid rate, increasing from 50,000 hectares in 2002 to 10.6 million hectares in 2011. The total cotton area in India was 12.1 million hectares in 2011, so GM cotton was grown on 88% of the cotton area. This made India the country with the largest area of GM cotton in the world.<ref name=ISAAA>[http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/43/executivesummary/default.asp ISAAA Brief 43-2011: Executive Summary Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210025832/http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/43/executivesummary/default.asp |date=10 February 2012 }}. Retrieved 24 September 2012.</ref> A long-term study on the economic impacts of Bt cotton in India, published in the Journal [[PNAS]] in 2012, showed that Bt cotton has increased yields, profits, and living standards of [[smallholding|smallholder]] farmers.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1073/pnas.1203647109|title=Economic impacts and impact dynamics of Bt (''Bacillus thuringiensis'') cotton in India|year=2012|last1=Kathage|first1=J.|last2=Qaim|first2=M.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=109|issue=29|pages=11652–6|pmid=22753493|pmc=3406847|bibcode=2012PNAS..10911652K|doi-access=free}}</ref> The U.S. GM cotton crop was 4.0 million hectares in 2011 the second largest area in the world, the Chinese GM cotton crop was third largest by area with 3.9 million hectares and Pakistan had the fourth largest GM cotton crop area of 2.6 million hectares in 2011.<ref name = ISAAA/> The initial introduction of GM cotton proved to be a success in Australia&nbsp;– the yields were equivalent to the non-transgenic varieties and the crop used much less pesticide to produce (85% reduction).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120419154729/http://www.cottonaustralia.com.au/facts/factsandfigures.aspx?id=14 Facts & Figures/Natural Resource Management Issues], Biotechnology, 2010. cottonaustralia.com.au.</ref> The subsequent introduction of a second variety of GM cotton led to increases in GM cotton production until 95% of the Australian cotton crop was GM in 2009<ref name=GMOCompass>[http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/gmo_planting/343.genetically_modified_cotton_global_area_under_cultivation.html Genetically modified plants: Global Cultivation Area Cotton] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729093637/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/gmo_planting/343.genetically_modified_cotton_global_area_under_cultivation.html |date=29 July 2010 }} GMO Compass, 29 March 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.</ref> making Australia the country with the fifth largest GM cotton crop in the world.<ref name = ISAAA/> Other GM cotton growing countries in 2011 were Argentina, Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa and Costa Rica.<ref name = ISAAA/>

Cotton has been genetically modified for resistance to [[glyphosate]] a broad-spectrum herbicide discovered by Monsanto which also sells some of the Bt cotton seeds to farmers. There are also a number of other cotton seed companies selling GM cotton around the world. About 62% of the GM cotton grown from 1996 to 2011 was insect resistant, 24% [[Gene stacked event|stacked]] product and 14% herbicide resistant.<ref name = ISAAA/>

Cotton has [[gossypol]], a toxin that makes it inedible. However, scientists have silenced the gene that produces the toxin, making it a potential food crop.<ref>Bourzac, Katherine (21 November 2006) [http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/17812/ Edible Cotton]. ''MIT Technology Review''.</ref> On 17 October 2018, the [[USDA]] deregulated [[Genetic Engineering|GE]] low-gossypol cotton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/biotechnology/brs-news-and-information/2018_brs_news/texas_am_low_gossypol_cotton |title=USDA Announces Deregulation of GE Low-Gossypol Cotton |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |format=website |access-date=21 October 2018 |archive-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022033541/https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/biotechnology/brs-news-and-information/2018_brs_news/texas_am_low_gossypol_cotton |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/fedregister/BRS_20181017.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/fedregister/BRS_20181017.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Federal Register: Texas A&M AgriLife Research; Determination of Nonregulated Status of Cotton Genetically Engineered for Ultra-low Gossypol Levels in the Cottonseed  |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration  |access-date=21 October 2018}}</ref>

===Organic production===
[[Organic cotton]] is generally understood as cotton from plants not [[Transgenic plant|genetically modified]] and that is certified to be grown without the use of any synthetic [[agrochemical|agricultural chemicals]], such as [[fertilizers]] or [[pesticides]].<ref>[http://www.vineyardteam.org/resources/sustainableag.php CCVT Sustainable] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090623021024/http://www.vineyardteam.org/resources/sustainableag.php |date=23 June 2009 }}. Vineyardteam.org. Retrieved on 27 November 2011.</ref> Its production also promotes and enhances biodiversity and biological cycles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vineyardteam.org/pdf/Econ04_ohmart.pdf |title=VineYardTeam Econ |access-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705092431/http://www.vineyardteam.org/pdf/Econ04_ohmart.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2008 }}</ref> In the United States, organic cotton plantations are required to enforce the [[National Organic Program]] (NOP). This institution determines the allowed practices for pest control, growing, fertilizing, and handling of organic crops.<ref>[http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop AMSv1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406153842/http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop |date=6 April 2012 }}. Ams.usda.gov. Retrieved on 27 November 2011.</ref> As of 2007, 265,517 bales of organic cotton were produced in 24 countries, and worldwide production was growing at a rate of more than 50% per year.<ref name=OTA>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100214145702/http://www.ota.com/organic/mt/organic_cotton.html Organic Cotton Facts]. Organic Trade Association.</ref> Organic cotton products are now available for purchase at limited locations. These are popular for baby clothes and [[diapers]]; natural cotton products are known to be both sustainable and hypoallergenic.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

===Pests and weeds===
[[File:Greene Co Ga1941 Delano.jpg|thumb|Hoeing a cotton field to remove weeds, [[Greene County, Georgia]], US, 1941]]
[[File:Cotton Harlequin Bugs.jpg|thumb|Female and nymph [[cotton harlequin bug]]]]

The cotton industry relies heavily on chemicals, such as [[fertilizers]], [[insecticides]] and [[herbicide]]s, although a very small number of farmers are moving toward an [[Organic farming|organic]] model of production. Under most definitions, organic products do not use [[genetic engineering|transgenic]] ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis|Bt]]'' cotton which contains a [[bacteria]]l gene that codes for a plant-produced [[protein]] that is toxic to a number of pests especially the [[bollworm]]s. For most producers, ''Bt'' cotton has allowed a substantial reduction in the use of synthetic insecticides, although in the long term [[Pesticide resistance#B. thuringiensis|resistance]] may become problematic.

====Global pest problems====
{{Main|List of cotton diseases}}
Significant global pests of cotton include various species of [[bollworm]], such as ''[[Pectinophora gossypiella]]''. Sucking pests include [[Dysdercus|cotton stainers]], the chili thrips, ''[[Scirtothrips dorsalis]]''; the cotton seed bug, ''[[Oxycarenus hyalinipennis]]''. Defoliators include the fall armyworm, ''[[Spodoptera frugiperda]]''.

Cotton yield is threatened by the evolution [[pest evolution|of new biotypes of insects]] and [[crop pathogen evolution|of new pathogens]].<ref name="advances" /> Maintaining good yield requires strategies to slow these adversaries' evolution.<ref name="advances">{{cite book | publisher=[[Springer Nature Switzerland AG]] | last1=Al-Khayri | first1=Jameel M. | last2=Jain | first2=S. Mohan | last3=Johnson | first3=Dennis Victor | series=Advances in Plant Breeding Strategies | volume=6 | title=Industrial and Food Crops | publication-place=Cham | year=2019 | isbn=978-3-030-23265-8 | oclc=1124613891}}{{rp|page=32}}

{{cite journal | last1=Gutierrez | first1=Andrew Paul | last2=Ponti | first2=Luigi | last3=Herren | first3=Hans R | last4=Baumgärtner | first4=Johann | last5=Kenmore | first5=Peter E | title=Deconstructing Indian cotton: weather, yields, and suicides | journal=[[Environmental Sciences Europe]] | publisher=[[Springer Science and Business Media]] | volume=27 | issue=1 | year=2015 | issn=2190-4707 | doi=10.1186/s12302-015-0043-8 | s2cid=3935402| doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Boll weevil.jpg|thumb|A [[boll weevil]] on a cotton boll]]

====North American insect pests====
Historically, in North America, one of the most economically destructive pests in cotton production has been the [[boll weevil]]. Boll weevils are beetles who ate cotton in the 1950s, that slowed the production of the cotton industry drastically. "This bone pile of short budgets, loss of market share, failing prices, abandoned farms, and the new immunity of boll weevils generated a feeling of helplessness"<ref>{{Cite web|title=King_Cotton_in_Modern_America_A_Cultural_Political..._----_(11._"The_Fabric_of_Our_Lives").pdf: ART 2100-01 (95293)|url=https://calstatela.instructure.com/courses/63089/files/7639185?verifier=zc6E9xjUYSqXiH0RfBQRFfmHBJMnLEyINsGXPPsC&wrap=1|access-date=2021-10-19|website=calstatela.instructure.com}}</ref> Boll Weevils first appeared in Beeville, Texas wiping out field after field of cotton in south Texas. This swarm of Boll Weevils swept through east Texas and spread to the eastern seaboard, leaving ruin and devastation in its path, causing many cotton farmers to go out of business.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=D. Clayton |title=King Cotton in Modern America: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945 |date=2011 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-932-5 }}{{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
 
Due to the [[US Department of Agriculture]]'s highly successful [[Boll Weevil Eradication Program]] (BWEP), this pest has been eliminated from cotton in most of the United States. This program, along with the introduction of genetically engineered [[Bacillus thuringiensis|Bt]] cotton, has improved the management of a number of pests such as [[cotton bollworm (American)|cotton bollworm]] and [[pink bollworm]]. Sucking pests include the cotton stainer, ''[[Dysdercus suturellus]]'' and the tarnish plant bug, ''[[Lygus lineolaris]]''. A significant cotton disease is caused by [[Xanthomonas citri subsp. malvacearum|''Xanthomonas citri'' subsp. ''malvacearum'']].

==Harvesting==
[[File:Baumwoll-Erntemaschine.jpeg|thumb|Offloading freshly harvested cotton into a module builder in [[Texas]]; previously built modules can be seen in the background]]
[[File:Cotton picking in India.jpg|thumb|Cotton being picked by hand in [[India]], 2005]]

Most cotton in the United States, Europe and Australia is harvested mechanically, either by a [[cotton picker]], a machine that removes the cotton from the boll without damaging the cotton plant, or by a cotton stripper, which strips the entire boll off the plant. Cotton strippers are used in regions where it is too windy to grow picker varieties of cotton, and usually after application of a chemical [[defoliant]] or the natural defoliation that occurs after a freeze. 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 country|developing countries]]<ref>[[Craig Murray|Murray, Craig]] (2006). ''Murder in Samarkand&nbsp;– A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror''. {{ISBN|978-1-84596-194-7}}.</ref> and in [[Xinjiang]], China, allegedly by [[Xinjiang internment camps|forced labor]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172x2z33qb03tg China's 'tainted' cotton], BBC Newshour, Dec. 15, 2020: "A little further along the same road and workers are still in the fields, twisting and plucking the bolls of white fibre. It is hot, grueling, backbreaking work." See also {{cite news |last1=Ana Nicolaci da Costa |title=Xinjiang cotton sparks concern over 'forced labour' claims |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50312010 |agency=BBC |date=Nov 13, 2019}}, {{cite news |title=UK business 'must wake up' to China's Uighur cotton slaves |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55319797 |agency=BBC |date=Dec 16, 2020}}</ref> Xinjiang produces over 20% of the world's cotton.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davidson |first1=Helen |title=Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/xinjiang-china-more-than-half-a-million-forced-to-pick-cotton-report-finds |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |date=2020-12-15}}</ref>

==Competition from synthetic fibers==
The era of manufactured fibers began with the development of [[rayon]] in France in the 1890s. Rayon is derived from a natural cellulose and cannot be considered synthetic, but requires extensive processing in a manufacturing process, and led the less expensive replacement of more naturally derived materials. A succession of new synthetic fibers were introduced by the chemicals industry in the following decades. [[Cellulose acetate|Acetate]] in fiber form was developed in 1924. [[Nylon]], the first fiber synthesized entirely from petrochemicals, was introduced as a sewing thread by DuPont in 1936, followed by DuPont's [[acrylic fiber|acrylic]] in 1944. Some garments were created from fabrics based on these fibers, such as women's [[hosiery]] from nylon, but it was not until the introduction of [[polyester]] into the fiber marketplace in the early 1950s that the market for cotton came under threat.<ref>[http://www.teonline.com/fiber-history.html Fiber History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917085422/http://www.teonline.com/fiber-history.html |date=17 September 2008 }}. Teonline.com. Retrieved on 27 November 2011.</ref> The rapid uptake of polyester garments in the 1960s caused economic hardship in cotton-exporting economies, especially in Central American countries, such as [[Nicaragua]], where cotton production had boomed tenfold between 1950 and 1965 with the advent of cheap chemical pesticides. Cotton production recovered in the 1970s, but crashed to pre-1960 levels in the early 1990s.<ref>Brockett, Charles D. (1998) ''Land, Power, and Poverty: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict.'' Westview Press. p. 46. {{ISBN|0-8133-8695-0}}.</ref>

== Competition from natural fibers ==
High water and pesticide use in cotton cultivation has prompted sustainability concerns and created a market for natural fiber alternatives. Other cellulose fibers, such as [[hemp]], are seen as more sustainable options because of higher yields per acre with less water and pesticide use than cotton.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Novaković |first1=Milada |last2=Popović |first2=Dušan M. |last3=Mladenović |first3=Nenad |last4=Poparić |first4=Goran B. |last5=Stanković |first5=Snežana B. |date=September 2020 |title=Development of comfortable and eco-friendly cellulose based textiles with improved sustainability |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |volume=267 |page=122154 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122154 |s2cid=219477637 |issn=0959-6526|doi-access= }}</ref> Cellulose fiber alternatives have similar characteristics but are not perfect substitutes for cotton textiles with differences in properties like tensile strength and thermal regulation.

==Uses==
[[File:CSIRO ScienceImage 10736 Manually decontaminating cotton before processing at an Indian spinning mill.jpg|thumb|Workers sort through cotton to remove contaminants. The workers wear masks to reduce the number of fibers they inhale.]]

Cotton is used to make a number of textile products. These include [[terrycloth]] for highly absorbent bath [[towel]]s and [[robe]]s; [[denim]] for [[Jeans|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]]. [[Sock]]s, [[underwear]], and most [[T-shirt]]s are made from cotton. Bed sheets often are made from cotton. It is a preferred material for sheets as it is hypoallergenic, easy to maintain and non-irritant to the skin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Why choose cotton bedding?|date=10 March 2021|url=https://www.doublejersey.be/why-choose-cotton-bedding/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513235830/https://www.doublejersey.be/why-choose-cotton-bedding/ |archive-date=13 May 2021 }}</ref> Cotton also is used to make yarn used in [[crochet]] and [[knitting]]. Fabric also can be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise would be thrown away during the spinning, weaving, or cutting process. While many fabrics are made completely of cotton, some materials blend cotton with other fibers, including [[rayon]] and [[synthetic fiber]]s such as [[polyester]]. It can either be used in knitted or woven fabrics, as it can be blended with elastine to make a stretchier thread for knitted fabrics, and apparel such as stretch jeans. Cotton can be blended also with [[linen]] producing fabrics with the benefits of both materials. Linen-cotton blends are wrinkle resistant and retain heat more effectively than only linen, and are thinner, stronger and lighter than only cotton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reference.com/home-garden/difference-between-cotton-linen-40242bc2265acaef |title=What is the difference between cotton and linen? |access-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017073804/https://www.reference.com/home-garden/difference-between-cotton-linen-40242bc2265acaef |archive-date=17 October 2016}}</ref>

In addition to the [[textile industry]], cotton is used in [[fishing net]]s, [[coffee filter]]s, [[tent]]s, explosives manufacture (see [[nitrocellulose]]), [[cotton paper]], and in [[bookbinding]]. [[Fire hose]]s were once made of cotton.

The cottonseed which remains after the cotton is ginned is used to produce [[cottonseed oil]], which, after refining, can be consumed by humans like any other [[vegetable oil]]. The [[cottonseed meal]] that is left generally is fed to [[ruminant]] livestock; the [[gossypol]] remaining in the meal is toxic to [[monogastric]] animals. Cottonseed hulls can be added to dairy cattle rations for roughage. During the American slavery period, cotton root bark was used in [[folk remedies]] as an [[abortifacient]], that is, to induce a miscarriage. Gossypol was one of the many substances found in all parts of the cotton plant and it was described by the scientists as 'poisonous pigment'. It also appears to inhibit the development of sperm or even restrict the mobility of the sperm. Also, it is thought to interfere with the menstrual cycle by restricting the release of certain hormones.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Resisting Reproduction: Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South |author=Perrin, Liese M. |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=35 |year=2001 |pages=255–274|doi=10.1017/S0021875801006612 |jstor=27556967 |issue=2|s2cid=145799076 }}</ref>

Cotton linters are fine, silky fibers which adhere to the seeds of the cotton plant after ginning. These curly fibers typically are less than {{convert|1/8|in|mm}} long. The term also may apply to the longer textile fiber staple lint as well as the shorter fuzzy fibers from some upland species. Linters are traditionally used in the manufacture of paper and as a raw material in the manufacture of [[cellulose]]. In the UK, linters are referred to as "cotton wool".
[[File:Cotton pads - Δίσκοι ντεμακιγιάζ.JPG|thumb|Cotton is made into balls, [[Cotton swab|swabs]], and [[Cotton pad|pads]] for applying and removing cosmetics.]]

A less technical use of the term "cotton wool", in the UK and Ireland, is for the refined product known as "absorbent cotton" (or, often, just "cotton") in U.S. usage: fluffy cotton in sheets or balls used for [[medical]], [[Cosmetics|cosmetic]], protective packaging, and many other practical purposes. The first medical use of cotton wool was by [[Sampson Gamgee]] at the Queen's Hospital (later the General Hospital) in [[Birmingham]], England.

Long staple (LS cotton) is cotton of a longer fibre length and therefore of higher quality, while [[Gossypium barbadense|Extra-long staple cotton]] (ELS cotton) has longer fibre length still and of even higher quality. The name "Egyptian cotton" is broadly associated high quality cottons and is often an LS or (less often) an ELS cotton.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100503015520/http://www.cottonguide.org/chapter-5/extra-long-staple-cotton Chapter 5. Extra long staple cotton]. cottonguide.org</ref> Nowadays the name "Egyptian cotton" refers more to the way cotton is treated and threads produced rather than the location where it is grown. The American cotton variety ''Pima'' cotton is often compared to Egyptian cotton, as both are used in high quality bed sheets and other cotton products. While Pima cotton is often grown in the American southwest,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=McGowan |first=Joseph Clarence |date=1960 |title=History of extra-long staple cottons |type=M.A. |chapter=XII |publisher=The University of Arizona. |citeseerx=10.1.1.1003.1154 }}</ref> the Pima name is now used by cotton-producing nations such as Peru, Australia and Israel.<ref>[http://www.cottonguide.org/cotton-guide/market-segments-extra-long-staple-cotton/ "5.2-Market segments-Extra long staple cotton"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121144756/http://www.cottonguide.org/cotton-guide/market-segments-extra-long-staple-cotton/ |date=21 January 2015 }}. ''cottonguide.org''.</ref> Not all products bearing the Pima name are made with the finest cotton: American-grown ELS Pima cotton is trademarked as ''Supima'' cotton.<ref>{{cite web |title=Supima Cotton - FAQ |url=http://supima.com/faq |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref> "Kasturi" cotton is a brand-building initiative for Indian long staple cotton by the [[Ministry of Textiles|Indian government]]. The [[Press Information Bureau|PIB]] issued a press release announcing the same.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-07|title=Ginners expected to produce 8-10 lakh bales of 'branded' Kasturi cotton this season|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/ginners-expected-to-produce-8-10-lakh-bales-of-branded-kasturi-cotton-this-season-6708717/|access-date=2021-08-12|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Today|first=Telangana|title=Cotton research centres to be set up at Adilabad, Warangal|url=https://telanganatoday.com/cotton-research-centres-to-be-set-up-at-adilabad-warangal|access-date=2021-08-12|website=Telangana Today|date=6 August 2021|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Indian cotton gets 'Kasturi' branding, logo |url=https://www.thehindu.com/business/indian-cotton-gets-kasturi-branding-logo/article32816396.ece |work=The Hindu |date=9 October 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730125309/https://www.thehindu.com/business/indian-cotton-gets-kasturi-branding-logo/article32816396.ece |archive-date= Jul 30, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Kasturi, the first national brand of Indian cotton can fetch at least a 5% price premium: Experts|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/kasturi-the-first-national-brand-of-indian-cotton-can-fetch-at-least-a-5-price-premium-experts/articleshow/78605516.cms |date=Oct 11, 2020 |access-date=2021-08-12}}</ref><ref name="Cotton-Day-India">{{Cite web|title=India gets its first ever Brand & Logo for its Cotton on 2nd World Cotton Day – A Historic Day for Indian Cotton!|url=https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1662480 |date=7 Oct 2020 |access-date=2021-08-12|website=Press Information Bureau}}</ref>

Cottons have been grown as ornamentals or novelties due to their showy flowers and snowball-like fruit. For example, [[Gossypium barbadense#jumels|Jumel's cotton]], once an important source of fiber in Egypt, started as an ornamental.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Porcher |first1=Richard D. |last2=Fick |first2=Sarah |title=The story of Sea Island cotton |date=2005 |publisher=Wyrick & Company |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=0-941711-73-0 |pages=82–83}}</ref> However, agricultural authorities such as the [[Boll Weevil Eradication Program]] in the United States discourage using cotton as an ornamental, due to concerns about these plants harboring pests injurious to crops.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Glasgow|first=Tom|date=27 November 2015|title=Cotton growers must comply with state regulations|url=https://www.newbernsj.com/article/20151127/LIFESTYLE/151129187|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212143111/https://www.newbernsj.com/article/20151127/LIFESTYLE/151129187|archive-date=12 December 2015|access-date=2020-10-09|website=New Bern Sun Journal|language=en|location=North Carolina}}</ref>

[[File:Shimul tula (cotton).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Cotton in a tree]]

==International trade==
[[File:CottonYield.png|thumb|Worldwide cotton production]]

The largest producers of cotton, as of 2017, are India and China, with annual production of about 18.53 million tonnes and 17.14 million tonnes, respectively; most of this production is consumed by their respective textile industries. The largest exporters of raw cotton are the United States, with sales of $4.9 billion, and Africa, with sales of $2.1 billion. The total international trade is estimated to be $12 billion. Africa's share of the cotton trade has doubled since 1980. Neither area has a significant domestic textile industry, textile manufacturing having moved to developing nations in Eastern and South Asia such as India and China. In Africa, cotton is grown by numerous small holders. Dunavant Enterprises, based in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], is the leading cotton broker in Africa, with hundreds of purchasing agents. It operates [[cotton gin]]s in Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia. In Zambia, it often offers loans for seed and expenses to the 180,000 small farmers who grow cotton for it, as well as advice on farming methods. [[Cargill]] also purchases cotton in Africa for export.

The 25,000 cotton growers in the United States are heavily [[subsidy|subsidized]] at the rate of $2 billion per year although China now provides the highest overall level of cotton sector support.<ref>[http://agritrade.cta.int/Agriculture/Commodities/Cotton/Executive-Brief-Update-2013-Cotton-sector "Executive Brief Update 2013: Cotton sector"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224045221/http://agritrade.cta.int/Agriculture/Commodities/Cotton/Executive-Brief-Update-2013-Cotton-sector |date=24 February 2014 }}. ''cta.int''.</ref> The future of these subsidies is uncertain and has led to anticipatory expansion of cotton brokers' operations in Africa. Dunavant expanded in Africa by buying out local operations. This is only possible in former British colonies and Mozambique; former French colonies continue to maintain tight monopolies, inherited from their former colonialist masters, on cotton purchases at low fixed prices.<ref>Zachary, G. Pascal (14 January 2007) [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/business/yourmoney/14duna.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations%2FW%2FWorld%20Trade%20Organization%20&_r=0 "Out of Africa: Cotton and Cash"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625071441/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/business/yourmoney/14duna.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations%2FW%2FWorld%20Trade%20Organization%20&_r=0 |date=25 June 2017 }}. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>

To encourage trade and organize discussion about cotton, [[World Cotton Day]] is celebrated every October 7.<ref name="Cotton-Day">{{cite web | title=World Cotton Day – Welcome to World Cotton Day | website=World Cotton Day | url=http://www.worldcottonday.com/ | access-date=2021-10-08}}</ref><ref name="Cotton-Day-WTO">{{cite web | title=Celebrating World Cotton Day: an opportunity to recognize the global importance of cotton | website=[[World Trade Organization|World Trade Organization (WTO)]] | date=2021-10-07 | url=http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/wcd2021_e.htm | access-date=2021-10-08}}</ref><ref name="Cotton-Day-Argentina">{{cite web | url=http://inta.gob.ar/sites/default/files/inta_revista_voces_y_ecos_nro_42_nota_2_algodon.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://inta.gob.ar/sites/default/files/inta_revista_voces_y_ecos_nro_42_nota_2_algodon.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live | title=Día mundial de algodón: seminario de innovaciones tecnológicas y organizativas | publisher=[[SENASA Argentina]] | first1=Martín | last1=Winkler | first2=Antonela | last2=Cereijo | first3=Robertino | last3=Muchut | first4=Pablo | last4=Dileo | first5=Gonzalo | last5=Scarpin | first6=Fernando | last6=Lorenzini | first7=Roxana | last7=Roeschlin | last8=Paytas | first8=Marcelo | language=es}}</ref><ref name="Cotton-Day-India" />

Cotton is included within [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) activities within two "complementary tracks":
*trade aspects, around multilateral negotiations aiming to address distorting subsidies and trade barriers affecting cotton; and 
*development assistance provided within the cotton production industry and its [[value chain]].<ref>World Trade Organization, [https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cotton_e.htm Cotton], accessed 11 June 2024</ref>
An agreement on trade in cotton formed part of the ministerial declaration concluding the [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005]].<ref>Tsang, J., "A Modest Triumph", ''Hong Kong Industrialist'', 2006/Jan, p. 43</ref>

==Production==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; width:14em; text-align:center; margin-right:1em;"
|+ Cotton production – 2022
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Production<br /><small>([[tonne]]s)</small>
|-
| {{CHN}} || 18,121,818
|-
| {{IND}} || 14,990,000
|-
| {{USA}} || 8,468,691
|-
| {{BRA}} || 6,422,030
|-
| {{UZB}} || 3,500,680
|-
| {{AUS}} || 2,800,000
|-
| {{TUR}} || 2,750,000
|-
| {{PAK}} || 2,409,642
|-
| {{TKM}} || 1,201,421
|-
| {{ARG}} || 1,115,510
|-
| {{MEX}} || 871,955
|-
| {{BFA}} || 668,633
|-
| {{BEN}} || 588,110
|-
| {{MLI}} || 526,000
|-
| {{TJK}} || 511,996
|-
| {{CIV}} || 448,573
|-
| {{CMR}} || 404,800
|-
| {{TAN}} || 373,018
|-
| {{KAZ}} || 361,819
|-
| {{AZE}} || 322,471
|-
| {{MMR}} || 289,488
|-
| '''World''' || '''69,668,143'''
|-
| colspan="2" | <small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]</small><ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Seed cotton, unginned production in 2022, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)|date=2024|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref>
|}

In 2022, world production of cotton was 69.7 million [[tonne]]s, led by [[China]] with 26% of the total. Other major producers were [[India]] (22%) and the [[United States]] (12%) (table).

The five leading [[export]]ers of cotton in 2019 are (<span class="ltr">1</span>) [[India]], (<span class="ltr">2</span>) the [[United States]], (<span class="ltr">3</span>) [[China]], (<span class="ltr">4</span>) [[Brazil]], and (<span class="ltr">5</span>) [[Pakistan]].

In [[India]], the states of [[Maharashtra]] (26.63%), [[Gujarat]] (17.96%) and [[Andhra Pradesh]] (13.75%) and also Madhya Pradesh are the leading cotton producing states,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2001-02/chapt2002/tab115.pdf|title= Three largest producing states of important crops|access-date= 6 April 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080409162742/http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2001-02/chapt2002/tab115.pdf|archive-date= 9 April 2008}}</ref> these states have a predominantly tropical wet and dry climate.

In the United States, the state of [[Texas]] led in total production as of 2004,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cotton Production and Support in the United States |author=Womach, Jasper |year=2004 |url=http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RL32442.pdf |journal=CRS Report for Congress |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927185056/http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/crs/RL32442.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> while the state of [[California]] had the highest [[Crop yield|yield per acre]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Siebert, JB|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TllcVXmnLlEC&pg=PA366|title=Cotton production manual |year= 1996 |publisher= ANR Publications |chapter=26 |page=366 |isbn= 978-1-879906-09-9}}</ref>

===Fair trade===
Cotton is an enormously important commodity throughout the world. It provides livelihoods for up to 1 billion people, including 100 million smallholder farmers who cultivate cotton.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Voora, V. |author2=Larrea, C. |author3=Bermudez, S. |date=2020|title=Global Market Report: Cotton|url=https://www.iisd.org/ssi/commodities/cotton-coverage/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127005927/https://www.iisd.org/ssi/commodities/cotton-coverage/ |archive-date=27 January 2021 |website=State of Sustainability Initiatives}}</ref> However, many farmers in developing countries receive a low price for their produce, or find it difficult to compete with developed countries.

This has led to an international dispute (see [[Brazil–United States cotton dispute]]):

<blockquote>On 27 September 2002, Brazil requested consultations with the US regarding prohibited and actionable subsidies provided to US producers, users and/or exporters of upland cotton, as well as legislation, regulations, statutory instruments and amendments thereto providing such subsidies (including export credits), grants, and any other assistance to the US producers, users and exporters of upland cotton.<ref>United States&nbsp;– Subsidies on Upland Cotton, [http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds267_e.htm World Trade Organization] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403032503/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds267_e.htm |date=3 April 2013 }}. Retrieved 2 October 2006.</ref>

On 8 September 2004, the Panel Report recommended that the United States "withdraw" export credit guarantees and payments to domestic users and exporters, and "take appropriate steps to remove the adverse effects or withdraw" the mandatory price-contingent subsidy measures.<ref>United States&nbsp;– Subsidies on Upland Cotton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120520140128/http://docsonline.wto.org/DDFDocuments/t/WT/DS/267R.doc World Trade Organization]. Retrieved 2 October 2006.</ref>
</blockquote>

While Brazil was fighting the US through the WTO's Dispute Settlement Mechanism against a heavily subsidized cotton industry, a group of four least-developed African countries&nbsp;– Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali&nbsp;– also known as "Cotton-4" have been the leading protagonist for the reduction of US cotton subsidies through negotiations. The four introduced a "Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton", presented by Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré during the Trade Negotiations Committee on 10 June 2003.<ref>[http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cotton_subcommittee_e.htm The Cotton Sub-Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902015509/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cotton_subcommittee_e.htm |date=2 September 2012 }}. World Trade Organization. Retrieved 3 August 2012.</ref>

In addition to concerns over subsidies, the cotton industries of some countries are criticized for employing child labor and damaging workers' health by exposure to pesticides used in production. The [[Environmental Justice Foundation]] has campaigned against the prevalent use of forced child and adult labor in cotton production in [[Uzbekistan]], the world's third largest cotton exporter.<ref>The Environmental Justice Foundation, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120815042003/http://www.ejfoundation.org/page93.html "Environmental Justice Foundation: Reports on Cotton"] retrieved 22 February 2010</ref>

The international production and trade situation has led to "[[fair trade]]" cotton clothing and footwear, joining a rapidly growing market for organic clothing, fair fashion or "ethical fashion". The fair trade system was initiated in 2005 with producers from [[Cameroon]], [[Mali]] and [[Senegal]], with the [[Association Max Havelaar France]] playing a lead role in the establishment of this segment of the fair trade system in conjunction with [[Fairtrade International]] and the French organisation [[:fr:Dagris|Dagris]] (''Développement des Agro-Industries du Sud'').<ref>UNCTAD, [https://web.archive.org/web/20131123215524/http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cotton/market.htm#fair Market: Fair Trade Cotton Market], Info Comm: Market Information in the Commodities Area, archived 23 November 2013, accessed 23 August 2021</ref>

===Trading===
[[File:Cotton prices.webp|thumb|300px|Cotton prices 2009–2022 <br /> {{see also|2020s commodities boom}}]]
[[File:Horrockses display.jpg|thumb|A display from a British cotton manufacturer of items used in a [[cotton mill]] during the [[Industrial Revolution]]]]
[[File:Bale of cotton at LA State Cotton Museum IMG 7387.JPG|thumb|A bale of cotton on display at the [[List of museums in Louisiana|Louisiana State Cotton Museum]] in [[Lake Providence, Louisiana|Lake Providence]] in East Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana]]

Cotton is bought and sold by investors and price speculators as a tradable commodity on two different commodity exchanges in the United States of America.

*Cotton No. 2 futures contracts are traded on the ICE Futures US Softs (NYI) under the ticker symbol '''CT'''. They are delivered every year in March, May, July, October, and December.<ref name="PortaraCQG">{{Cite web |title=Historical Cotton Intraday Futures Data (CTA) |url=https://portaracqg.com/historical-futures-data/historical-cotton-intraday-futures-data-cta/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=PortaraCQG |language=en-US}}</ref>
*Cotton [[futures contract]]s are traded on the [[New York Mercantile Exchange]] (NYMEX) under the ticker symbol '''TT'''. They are delivered every year in March, May, July, October, and December.<ref>[https://www.wikinvest.com/Cotton_Prices NYMEX Cotton Futures Contract Overview via Wikinvest]{{dead link|date=May 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Contract specifications<ref name="PortaraCQG" />
!Cotton (CTA) 
!
|-
|Exchange: 
|NYI 
|-
|Sector:
|Energy 
|-
|Tick size:
|0.01 
|-
|Tick value:
|5 USD 
|-
|BPV:
|500
|-
|Denomination: 
|USD
|-
|Decimal place: 
|2
|}

===Critical temperatures===
*Favorable travel temperature range: below {{convert|25|°C|°F|abbr=on}}
*Optimum travel temperature: {{convert|21|°C|°F|abbr=on}}
*Glow temperature: {{convert|205|°C|°F|abbr=on}}
*[[Fire point]]: {{convert|210|°C|°F|abbr=on}}
*[[Autoignition temperature]]: {{convert|360|-|425|°C|°F|abbr=on}}<ref>Handbook of Fiber Chemistry Third Edition p594</ref>
*Autoignition temperature (for oily cotton): {{convert|120|°C|°F|abbr=on}}

A temperature range of {{convert|25|to|35|°C|°F|abbr=on}} is the optimal range for mold development. At temperatures below {{convert|0|°C|°F|abbr=on}}, rotting of wet cotton stops. Damaged cotton is sometimes stored at these temperatures to prevent further deterioration.<ref>Transportation Information Service of Germany, Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V. (GDV), Berlin, [http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/fasern/baumwoll/baumwoll.htm Transport Information Service (TIS)&nbsp;– Cargo, Packaging, Containers, Loss prevention, Marine insurance] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304182310/http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/fasern/baumwoll/baumwoll.htm |date=4 March 2009 }}, 2002–2006</ref>

Egypt has a unique climatic temperature that the soil and the temperature provide an exceptional environment for cotton to grow rapidly.

==British standard yarn measures==
*1 thread = {{convert|55|in|cm|abbr=on|disp=or}}
*1 skein or rap = 80 threads ({{convert|120|yd|m|abbr=on|disp=or}})
*1 hank = 7 skeins ({{convert|840|yd|m|abbr=on|disp=or}})
*1 spindle = 18 hanks ({{convert|15120|yd|km|abbr=on|disp=or}})

==Fiber properties==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2012}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!width=35%| Property
!Evaluation
|-
|Shape
|Fairly uniform in width, 12–20 micrometers;<br />length varies from 1&nbsp;cm to 6&nbsp;cm ({{frac|1|2}} to 2{{frac|1|2}} inches);<br />typical length is 2.2&nbsp;cm to 3.3&nbsp;cm ({{frac|7|8}} to 1{{frac|1|4}} inches).
|-
|Luster
|High
|-
|Tenacity (strength)<br />Dry<br />Wet
|<br />3.0–5.0 g/d<br />3.3–6.0 g/d
|-
|Resiliency
|Low
|-
|Density
|1.54–1.56 g/cm<sup>3</sup>
|-
|Moisture absorption<br />raw: conditioned<br />saturation<br />mercerized: conditioned<br />saturation
|<br />8.5%<br />15–25%<br />8.5–10.3%<br />15–27%+
|-
|Dimensional stability
|Good
|-
|Resistance to<br />acids<br />alkali<br />organic solvents<br />sunlight<br />microorganisms<br />insects
|<br />Damage, weaken fibers<br />resistant; no harmful effects<br />high resistance to most<br />Prolonged exposure weakens fibers.<br />Mildew and rot-producing bacteria damage fibers.<br />Silverfish damage fibers.
|-
|Thermal reactions<br />to heat<br />to flame
|<br />Decomposes after prolonged exposure to temperatures of 150&nbsp;°C or over.<br />Burns readily with yellow flame, smells like burning paper. The residual ash is light and fluffy and greyish in color.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Potter |first=Maurice David |url=http://archive.org/details/fibertofabricsec00pott |title=Fiber to Fabric |edition=2nd |date=1954 |location=New York; Toronto |publisher=McGraw-Hill }}{{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
|}
[[File:C21a.jpg|thumb|Cotton fibers viewed under a [[scanning electron microscope]]]]

Depending upon the origin, the chemical composition of cotton is as follows:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mishra |first1=S. P. |title=A Text Book of Fibre Science and Technology |date=2000 |publisher=New Age International |isbn=978-81-224-1250-5 |page=78 }}</ref>
*[[Cellulose]] 91.00%
*[[Water]] 7.85%
*[[Protoplasm]], [[pectins]] 0.55%
*[[Waxes]], fatty substances 0.40%
*Mineral [[salts]] 0.20%

=== Morphology ===
Cotton has a more complex structure among the other crops. A [[Cotton Maturity|matured]] cotton fiber is a single, elongated complete dried multilayer cell that develops in the surface layer of cottonseed. It has the following parts.<ref name="Karmakar-1999">{{cite book |last1=Karmakar |first1=S. R. |title=Chemical Technology in the Pre-Treatment Processes of Textiles |date=1999 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-053947-8 |pages=3, 4, 5 }}</ref>

# The cuticle is the outer most layer. It is a waxy layer that contains [[pectin]]s and [[protein]]aceous materials.<ref name="Wakelyn-2006">{{cite book |last1=Wakelyn |first1=Phillip J. |last2=Bertoniere |first2=Noelie R. |last3=French |first3=Alfred D. |last4=Thibodeaux |first4=Devron P. |last5=Triplett |first5=Barbara A. |last6=Rousselle |first6=Marie-Alice |last7=Goynes |first7=Wilton R. |last8=Edwards |first8=J. Vincent |last9=Hunter |first9=Lawrance |last10=McAlister |first10=David D. |last11=Gamble |first11=Gary R. |title=Cotton Fiber Chemistry and Technology |date=15 December 2006 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4200-4588-8 |pages=24, 26, 30, 31, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63 }}</ref>
# The primary wall is the original thin cell wall. Primary wall is mainly [[cellulose]], it is made up of a network of fine fibrils (small strands of cellulose).<ref name="Wakelyn-2006" />
# The winding layer is the first layer of secondary thickening it is also called the S1 layer. It is different in structure from both the primary wall and the remainder of the secondary wall. It consists of fibrils aligned at 40 to 70-degree angles to the fiber axis in an open netting type of pattern.<ref name="Wakelyn-2006" />
# The secondary wall consists of concentric layers of cellulose it is also called the S2 layer, that constitute the main portion of the cotton fiber. After the fiber has attained its maximum diameter, new layers of cellulose are added to form the secondary wall. The fibrils are deposited at 70 to 80-degree angles to the fiber axis, reversing angle at points along the length of the fiber.<ref name="Wakelyn-2006" />
# The lumen is the hollow canal that runs the length of the fiber. It is filled with living protoplasm during the growth period. After the fiber matures and the boll opens, the protoplast dries up, and the lumen naturally collapses, leaving a central void, or pore space, in each fiber. It separates the secondary wall from the lumen and appears to be more resistant to certain reagents than the secondary wall layers. The lumen wall also called the S3 layer.<ref name="Wakelyn-2006" /><ref>{{Google books|k9AHEAAAQBAJ|Cotton Fiber Composition|page=83}} in {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-981-15-9169-3_5 |chapter=Physical Structure, Properties and Quality of Cotton |title=Cotton Science and Processing Technology |series=Textile Science and Clothing Technology |year=2020 |last1=Wang |first1=Hua |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Muhammad Qasim |last3=Memon |first3=Hafeezullah |pages=79–97 |isbn=978-981-15-9168-6 |s2cid=229189581 }}</ref><ref name="Karmakar-1999" />

==== Dead cotton ====
[[Dead cotton]] is a term that refers to unripe cotton fibers that do not absorb [[dye]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manufacturers |first=National Association of Wool |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nERQAAAAYAAJ&dq=dead+cotton&pg=PA325 |title=Bulletin |date=1893 |publisher=National Association of Wool Manufacturers |page=325 |language=en}}</ref> Dead cotton is [[Cotton maturity|immature cotton]] that has poor dye affinity and appears as white specks on a [[Dyeing|dyed]] fabric. When cotton fibers are analyzed and assessed through a microscope, dead fibers appear differently. Dead cotton fibers have thin cell walls. In contrast, mature fibers have more cellulose and a greater degree of cell wall thickening<ref name="Crum-1863">{{Cite book |last=Crum |first=Walter |url=http://archive.org/details/oncottonfibreonm00crum |title=On the cotton fibre and on the manner in which it unites with colouring matter |date=1863 |publisher=Glasgow : Bell & Bain |others=Getty Research Institute |page=11}}</ref>

==Genome==
{{Update|section|talk="Genome" section needs revision and updating|date=April 2021}}
{{Technical|section=Cotton genome|date=January 2011}}
There is a public effort to sequence the genome of cotton. It was started in 2007 by a consortium of public researchers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Z. Jeffrey |last2=Scheffler |first2=Brian E. |last3=Dennis |first3=Elizabeth |last4=Triplett |first4=Barbara A. |last5=Zhang |first5=Tianzhen |last6=Guo |first6=Wangzhen |last7=Chen |first7=Xiaoya |last8=Stelly |first8=David M. |last9=Rabinowicz |first9=Pablo D. |last10=Town |first10=Christopher D. |last11=Arioli |first11=Tony |last12=Brubaker |first12=Curt |last13=Cantrell |first13=Roy G. |last14=Lacape |first14=Jean-Marc |last15=Ulloa |first15=Mauricio |last16=Chee |first16=Peng |last17=Gingle |first17=Alan R. |last18=Haigler |first18=Candace H. |last19=Percy |first19=Richard |last20=Saha |first20=Sukumar |last21=Wilkins |first21=Thea |last22=Wright |first22=Robert J. |last23=Van Deynze |first23=Allen |last24=Zhu |first24=Yuxian |last25=Yu |first25=Shuxun |last26=Abdurakhmonov |first26=Ibrokhim |last27=Katageri |first27=Ishwarappa |last28=Kumar |first28=P. Ananda |last29=Zafar |first29=Yusuf |last30=Yu |first30=John Z. |last31=Kohel |first31=Russell J. |last32=Wendel |first32=Jonathan F. |last33=Paterson |first33=Andrew H. |last34=Paterson |first34=AH |title=Toward Sequencing Cotton (''Gossypium'') Genomes |journal=Plant Physiology |date=December 2007 |volume=145 |issue=4 |pages=1303–1310 |doi=10.1104/pp.107.107672 |pmid=18056866 |pmc=2151711 }}</ref> Their aim is to sequence the genome of cultivated, tetraploid cotton. "Tetraploid" means that its nucleus has two separate genomes, called A and D. The consortium agreed to first sequence the D-genome wild relative of cultivated cotton (''G. raimondii'', a Central American species) because it is small and has few repetitive elements. It has nearly one-third of the bases of tetraploid cotton, and each chromosome occurs only once.{{Clarify|date=January 2011}} Then, the A genome of ''G. arboreum'' would be sequenced. Its genome is roughly twice that of ''G. raimondii''. Part of the difference in size is due to the amplification of ''retrotransposons'' (GORGE). After both diploid genomes are assembled, they would be used as models for sequencing the genomes of tetraploid cultivated species. Without knowing the diploid genomes, the euchromatic DNA sequences of AD genomes would co-assemble, and their repetitive elements would assemble independently into A and D sequences respectively. There would be no way to untangle the mess of AD sequences without comparing them to their diploid counterparts.

The public sector effort continues with the goal to create a high-quality, draft genome sequence from reads generated by all sources. The effort has generated Sanger reads of BACs, fosmids, and plasmids, as well as 454 reads. These later types of reads will be instrumental in assembling an initial draft of the D genome. In 2010, the companies [[Monsanto]] and [[Illumina (company)|Illumina]] completed enough Illumina sequencing to cover the D genome of ''G. raimondii'' about 50x.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Monsanto and Illumina Reach Key Milestone in Cotton Genome Sequencing|url = http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/monsanto-illumina-key-milestone-cotton-genome-sequencing.aspx|website = www.monsanto.com|access-date = 2016-01-31|last = APPDMZ\gyoung|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160201042838/http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/monsanto-illumina-key-milestone-cotton-genome-sequencing.aspx|archive-date = 1 February 2016}}</ref> They announced that they would donate their raw reads to the public. This public relations effort gave them some recognition for sequencing the cotton genome. Once the D genome is assembled from all of this raw material, it will undoubtedly assist in the assembly of the AD genomes of cultivated varieties of cotton, but much work remains.

As of 2014, at least one assembled cotton genome had been reported.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Fuguang |last2=Fan |first2=Guangyi |last3=Wang |first3=Kunbo |last4=Sun |first4=Fengming |last5=Yuan |first5=Youlu |last6=Song |first6=Guoli |last7=Li |first7=Qin |last8=Ma |first8=Zhiying |last9=Lu |first9=Cairui |last10=Zou |first10=Changsong |last11=Chen |first11=Wenbin |last12=Liang |first12=Xinming |last13=Shang |first13=Haihong |last14=Liu |first14=Weiqing |last15=Shi |first15=Chengcheng |last16=Xiao |first16=Guanghui |last17=Gou |first17=Caiyun |last18=Ye |first18=Wuwei |last19=Xu |first19=Xun |last20=Zhang |first20=Xueyan |last21=Wei |first21=Hengling |last22=Li |first22=Zhifang |last23=Zhang |first23=Guiyin |last24=Wang |first24=Junyi |last25=Liu |first25=Kun |last26=Kohel |first26=Russell J |last27=Percy |first27=Richard G |last28=Yu |first28=John Z |last29=Zhu |first29=Yu-Xian |last30=Wang |first30=Jun |last31=Yu |first31=Shuxun |title=Genome sequence of the cultivated cotton Gossypium arboreum |journal=Nature Genetics |date=June 2014 |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=567–572 |doi=10.1038/ng.2987 |pmid=24836287 |s2cid=13477556 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==See also==

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Cotton Belt]]
*[[Cotton candy]]
*[[Carding|Cotton carding]]
*[[Cotton gin]]
*[[Cotton mill]]
*[[The Cotton Museum]]
*[[Cotton recycling]]
*{{section link|Diplomacy of the American Civil War|Cotton and the British economy}}
*[[Environmental impact of fashion]]
*[[International Cotton Advisory Committee]]
*[[International Cotton Association]]
*[[Ceiba pentandra|Java cotton (kapok)]]
*[[King Cotton]]
*[[Madapollam]]
*[[Mercerized cotton]]
*[[Sea island cotton]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Beckert, Sven. ''Empire of Cotton: A Global History.'' New York: Knopf, 2014.
* Brown, D. Clayton. ''King Cotton: A Cultural, Political, and Economic History since 1945'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2011) 440 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-60473-798-1}}
* Ensminger, Audrey H. and Konlande, James E. ''Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia'', (2nd ed. CRC Press, 1993). {{ISBN|0-8493-8980-1}}
* [http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/cotton-wool/market-outlook.aspx USDA&nbsp;– Cotton Trade]
* [[William G. Moseley|Moseley, W.G.]] and L.C. Gray (eds). ''Hanging by a Thread: Cotton, Globalization and Poverty in Africa'' (Ohio University Press and Nordic Africa Press, 2008). {{ISBN|978-0-89680-260-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Riello |first1=Giorgio |title=Cotton: The Fabric that Made the Modern World |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00022-3 }}
* Smith, C. Wayne and Joe Tom Cothren. ''Cotton: origin, history, technology, and production'' (1999) 850 pages {{ISBN|978-0-471-18045-6}}
* True, Alfred Charles. ''The cotton plant: its history, botany, chemistry, culture, enemies, and uses'' (U.S. Office of Experiment Stations, 1896) [https://archive.org/details/cottonplantitshi33true online edition]
* {{cite book |last1=Yafa |first1=Stephen H. |author-link1=Stephen Yafa |title=Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map |date=2005 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-03367-6 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://ica-ltd.org/ International Cotton Association]
*[https://www.cotton.org/ National Cotton Council of America]
*{{cite web | title=World Cotton Day |url=https://www.worldcottonday.com// | access-date=December 26, 2023}}
*{{cite web | title=Celebrating World Cotton Day: an opportunity to recognize the global importance of cotton | publisher=[[World Trade Organization]] | date=2021-10-07 | url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/wcd2021_e.htm| access-date=2021-10-08}}
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Cotton|short=x}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Cotton|volume=7|pages=256–281|short=x}}
*{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Cotton|short=x}}

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