Keywords

The word cotton, derived from the Arabic word “quotn” (Lee and Fang 2015), has a place with Gossypium variety, which was additionally derived from the Arabic word “goz” (Gledhill 2008), meaning a delicate material. Cotton is a delicate, soft staple fiber that develops in a boll or defensive case, around the seeds of the plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae (Cobley 1956). Cotton species G. arboretum and G. herbaceum were previously used as shrubs (Iqbal et al. 2001).

Agriculture is the main contributor to most of the country’s economy especially in developing countries, and cotton is one of the important crops in agriculture (Ahmad et al. 2014, 2017; Ahmad and Raza 2014; Abbas and Ahmad 2018). In some countries, it is known as “white gold” because it is producing so much revenue (Ali et al. 2011, 2013a, 2014a). Cotton is the world’s best preeminent fiber and natural crop extending one of the biggest textile industries having a yearly economic impact of at least $600 billion worldwide. Genetic diversity and its usage in getting sustainability of lint cotton and cotton yield, and usage of bio-based substitute such as procession and change in various biochemical, physiological, morphological and genetically significant traits (Tariq et al. 2017; Amin et al. 2017). Enormous event in narrow and broad genetic base of cotton cultivars. It is the most widely used fiber in every cloth we can think of. About 25 million tons of total cotton is produced worldwide per year, and its worth is about 12 billion dollars. Cotton plant requires plenty of sunshine and 60–120 cm rain (Khan et al. 2004; Usman et al. 2009; Rahman et al. 2018). Due to genetic engineering, different varieties of cotton have been developed like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, which resulted in dramatic increase in cotton production (The Daily Records January 2, 2019) (Sawan 2018). Around the globe, more than 100 countries (Fig. 1.1) are producing cotton, and total worldwide yearly planted area is 33 M ha for the production during the year 2014 (Bremen Cotton Exchange 2014). Among these countries, the top ten cotton-producing countries are India, China, the United States, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Burkina Faso, and their per year production is given in

Fig. 1.1
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Cotton-producing areas around the globe. (Source: https://www.picswe.com/pics/world-cotton-e1.html)

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Fig. 1.2. Although India is at number one and is producing 26% of the world’s total cotton, its yield per acre is very low. In China, cotton planting is in 24 provinces out of 35, it is primary crop of China, and 99.5% of total cultivated area has been used for cotton plantation. The United States of America is leading in cotton exports; its major portion of the cotton production is in southern states including Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Pakistan is also a major cotton-producing and -consuming country. Indus Valley Civilization is the place where the oldest cotton plantation is traced so far (Ahmad et al. 2018; Ali et al. 2013b, 2014b). Fifteen percent of the country’s land is used to grow cotton. In Brazil, a major portion of the cultivated land is used for cotton farming, and the country is the fourth largest exporter of cotton in the world. Australia is using 100% local seed technology, and the country is the third largest exporter of cotton products, and the country is known for contaminant-free cotton, having good fiber length and color. The fifth largest exporter of cotton product is Uzbekistan. They are exporting 17% of their total production, but Uzbek cotton is facing issues due to slaves and child labor. Turkey is producing premium quality of cotton in the world, but due to raging war in the region, export of the product dented, and since 2002 production of the “white gold” was facing steady decline; but now production is increasing due to some remedial measures (using technology and quality seeds). Turkmenistan is at number nine among the top ten producers. Cotton production in the country has declined up to 50% due to scarcity of water. Burkina Faso is at last number among the top ten cotton-producing countries. Production is gradually increasing since 1980; only during 2017–2018, about 20% increase was estimated by their government.

Fig. 1.2
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Top ten cotton-producing countries around the globe. (Source: The Daily Records 02 January 2019)

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As major cotton-producing countries were increased, global production was also raised about 14% during the year 2018. The United States, China, and Turkey approximately were expected to rise up to 20%, while Mexico was expected to double. This increase in production was due to increase in cultivation area (Tariq et al. 2018; Amin et al. 2018). Anticipated world’s average yield for the year 2018 was 792 kg ha−1(Johnson et al. 2013). Now the key question is: what will be the production of cotton in 2019. The answer to the question is that the price of competitive crop (corn) is expected to be low in the future; as a result, cotton planted area is expected to increase from 14 million acres to 14.45 million acres during the year 2019 (2019/2020 Fundamentals, Outlook, and Caveats), so rise in production graph is expected.

Historical data of the world about production, export, and import of cotton from the year 1995–1996 to 2017–2018 is given in Table 1.1. It shows that although increase in production year to year is not constant, there is an overall 75.86% increase during the last 23 years, and same trend can be seen in trade (import and export). It is worth mentioning that the use of cotton is 70.10% higher in 2017–2018 than the year 1995–1996 (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1 Historical data of the world about production, export, and import of cotton from the year 1995–1996 to 2017–2018
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According to a survey, worldwide purchases of cotton during the year 2017–2018 were US$49.9 billion. From a region prospective, two third (65.5%) of global cotton was imported by Asian countries. The remaining portion was purchased by Europe (16%), Africa (7.8%), Latin America including Caribbean but excluding Mexico (6.1%), North America (4.1%), and Oceania (16%), and the rest was purchased by Australia and New Zealand.

Among the top 15 importer countries, China is at number one; it imported cotton of worth US$8.6 billion which was 17.3% of total cotton import globally. Bangladesh was at number two with US$5.3 billion (10.7%), Vietnam was at number three with US$4.2, Turkey was at the fourth position with import of US$3 billion, Indonesia was at the fifth position with US$2.1 billion, Hong Kong was at the sixth position with US$1.5 billion, Italy was at seventh with US$1.3, South Korea was at the eighth position with US$1.2 billion, Germany was at ninth, and Mexico was at the tenth position with import of US$1 billion; India imports cotton of US$991.4 million and was at the eleventh position, Pakistan is importing cotton of worth US$975 and was at the twelfth position, the United States was at the thirteenth position with import of cotton worth US$940.6, Thailand was at the fourteenth position with US$777.7, and Honduras was at the last position (US$768.9) among the top 15 cotton importer countries. Percent contribution of the world’s import of top 15 countries is given in Fig. 1.3 (World’s Top Importers 2018).

Fig. 1.3
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Percent contribution of top 15 countries in world total import. (Source: World’s Top Importers 2018)

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