Carl Santleben waits for the next load of cotton from the field, while Terri Schirmer is operating her 'stompers' cotton module builders, during the Ernie Schirmer Farms cotton harvest, in Batesville, TX, on August 22, 2020. Four days ago, rain showered this cotton crop, soaking the soil and making the delicate round cotton bolls droop and dangle from the plant; and softening the soil that has to support the weight of the cotton-picking equipment. Today, an approaching storm motivates them to begin a day early. From 10 AM to 10 PM, harvesters are driven across the circular (pivot irrigat
Cotton (from Arabic al-qutn) is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a 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 waxes, fats, pectins, 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.[1] Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.[2] The fiber is most often 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 tonnes or 110 million bales annually, accounting for 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
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Photo credit: © American Photo Archive / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: agriculture, boll, control, cotton, cottonseed, crop, crops, cultivation, equipment, farm, farm--fabric, farming, fiber, field, ginning, growth, harvest, harvester, harvesting, industry, irrigation, land, management, mechanization, organic, pest, plant, practices, preparation, production, rotation, seed, soil, sustainable, textile, yield
