Crop Profile: Cotton - (Gossypium spp.)
Cotton ( Gossypium arboreum L./ G. hirsutum L.)is the most important fiber crop grown globally. Cotton provides raw material for the textile industry. Cotton is the name derived from Arabic Al-qutn . In botanical terms, cotton is the soft, fluffy staple fibre that is produced around the seed in the protective boll of genus Gossypium. The fibre is botanically meant for the dispersal of seed. The fibre is almost pure cellulose. HISTORY 1. The cultivation of cotton has been reported as old as 5000 BC in the western Pakistan, for example, the Mehrgarh excavation showed cotton fibres preserved in copper beads. The cultivation then spread in the Indus Valley Civilization. 2. Evidences about the cultivation of cotton in Iran (pre-islamic Persia) also exists which dates back to almost 5th Millenium BC. From these regions, the cotton was taken to the Europe and other continents. 3. By the end of 16th century BC, cotton...