by Katie Hunholz, Somervell County Master Gardener Intern
Used for 8000 years…known for its versatility, appearance, performance, and comfort…America’s number one value-added crop…provides thousands of products and millions of jobs. What plant could I possibly be describing? It’s Gossypium hirsutum, or Upland Cotton.
Used throughout history in places all throughout the world- China, India, Pakistan, Africa, and North America- cotton continues to play a vital role in the economy and industry of the United States. In fact, the US is the second biggest producer of cotton (China is the top producer), and 37% of the world’s cotton is exported from the United States.
With a growing season that lasts 150-180 days, cotton is an extremely time-consuming crop (the longest of any annual crop in the US). However, the products that are produced from this crop make it all worth the wait. Cotton farmers have an advantage since all parts of the cotton plant are useful. The cotton boll (the white, fluffy part of the seed head) forms when the plant is ready to seed (~130 days after planting). It is then plucked from the plant, ginned (separating the lint from the seeds), carded (combed to straighten out the fibers), spun into yarn, and woven into cloth. Cottonseed oil, from the seeds, is found in many of our foods. And the leftover seed portion becomes food for livestock. The leaves and stalks of the cotton remain behind with the farmer, who can then till the plant material back into the soil- acting as fertilizer for future crops.
As the desire for cotton increased throughout the world, new technologies, such as the Spinning Jenny and cotton gin, made the production of cotton a more efficient process. Cotton was the inspiration for much of the technology developed in the 1700s, as well as a huge contributor to the Industrial Revolution. As cotton production increased in North America, the economy began to rapidly increase as well. The economy of the northern states was booming through the selling of cotton products, whereas the southern economy was being fueled by the farming of the cotton crops. In fact, the need for more land for growing cotton was one of the main impetuses behind the Western expansion.
Despite the many benefits that come from such an influential plant, the production of cotton is not without its trials. As America’s biggest export in the mid 1800s, the production of cotton fueled the increase of the slave trade. This increase of slavery was a large contributor to the American Civil War, as many people objected to the owning of fellow human beings. Another negative impact of the production of cotton has been the increase in the use of aggressive pesticides. Even though less than 3% of the world’s farmland is dedicated to the production of cotton, this production uses 25% of the world’s pesticides. The boll weevil, a small insect with a huge appetite for cotton, costs the industry almost $300 million each year as farmers fight to control this pest. And, this financial impact does not consider the inevitable impact this will have on the environment.
The advance of modern technology makes many things obsolete, but cotton is not one of them. Cottonseed oil is found in food, margarine, cosmetics and soaps. Cotton fibers are still used to make clothing, sheets, and towels. Even with the creation of synthetic cotton, the authentic cotton has many superior qualities- including, better absorbency, a texture ideal for cleansing, and the ability to withstand extremely high temperatures (a quality necessary for sterilization). All of these facts concerning cotton, point to one obvious conclusion: the impact of cotton- both in the past, and in the present- has greatly changed our world.
Sources:
- Laws, Bill. 2012. Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History. New York. Firefly Books, Inc. p. 88-93.
- Cotton Counts. The Story of Cotton. Cotton.tamu.edu. cotton.tamu.edu/kidseducation.html. (12/20/2013)