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A Review of Yield and Quality Trends and Components in American Upland Cotton

Hal Lewis


 
ABSTRACT

The U.S. cotton/textile industry is facing very difficult times. Helms (2000), in his report of the findings of the American Cotton Producers "Blue Ribbon Committee on Cotton Yield" stated that, "clearly a significant problem exists with current cotton yields". "The problem is best characterized by stagnant yields, which have become increasingly variable and highly unstable in recent years." In addition, fiber quality has deteriorated during the 1990’s and the prospect for 2000 is not good. These developments present a serious challengeto thecotton research community, both public and private, and demand immediate attention that most likely will require a significant deviation from business as usual if meaningful solutions to these problems are to be had.

In order to plot an intelligent course of progress into the future, it is essential to know where you are at the present. Understanding where you are at the present requires an in-depth knowledge of how you arrived at your present position from the past. The objective of this paper is to examine, with regard to cotton yield and quality, where we have been, where we are and where we need to go in order for the U.S. cotton/textile industry to remain profitable and durable.





Reprinted from Proceedings of the 2001 Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 1447 - 1453
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified XXXXXX, XXX XX 2001