Cotton Can Be More Profitable Than Maize!

- Annelie Coleman

Cotton has been used as a fibre for more than 7 000 years. Unlike fossil-based fibres, it is sustainable, renewable, biodegradable and carbon neutral.

“It can be used without depleting or damaging the environment, making it an excellent choice as an environmentally friendly fibre throughout its entire product life cycle,” says Arno Janse van Vuuren, agribusiness NWK’s manager of agricultural management.

NWK recently conducted a survey to determine the potential for cotton production and expansion in the company’s service area, which includes Lichtenburg and Mahikeng in North West. The main production regions in the province include Stella, Delareyville and SchweizerReneke, which together produced 17 832 lint bales (200kg each) of the provincial crop of 23 299 bales in the past season. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is a tropical crop and as such prefers summer temperatures of 25°C or higher, and soil temperatures that stay above 18°C during germination. As most of the world’s cotton is produced outside of the tropics, cotton-growing areas have to be warm enough to ensure a good crop. Cotton is generally not produced in areas higher than 1 400m above sea level.

The plant is hardy and resilient to drought.

COTTON IN FIGURES

According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), global production of the crop in the 2017/2018 season was 26,9 million tons, a 16% increase on the previous season. The major producers, which together were responsible for 90% of global cotton output, were India, China, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Global demand increased 8% to 26,9 million tons in the 2017/2018 season. The committee has forecast a 4% fall in production to 26 million tons in the 2018/2019 season. Production is expected to decline 2% in India, the world’s largest producer, due to pink bollworm infestation.