ABSTRACT
Cotton is the most popular natural ber for clothing and textile products, accounting for about 35% of the total world ber use (USDA, 2011a). In 2011, the estimate of world cotton production was about 26 million tons. China is the world’s largest cotton producer (7.1 million tons), with India, United States, Pakistan, and Brazil rounding out the top ve countries, which together account for about 80% of world production. The United States is the largest cotton exporter, and China is the largest importer of raw cotton, mainly from the United States (NCC, 2011). Most U.S. cotton is grown in a region known as the cotton belt, which includes the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Texas is the leading cotton-producing state, accounting for about 25% of
6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 125 6.2 Precision Agriculture Technology in Cotton ................................................ 126
6.2.1 Cotton Yield Monitors ...................................................................... 127 6.2.2 Cotton Quality Mapping ................................................................... 129 6.2.3 Application of Remote Sensing Technology .................................... 131 6.2.4 Sensor-Based System for Variable Rate N Application .................... 132
6.3 Cotton Harvesting ......................................................................................... 134 6.3.1 Cotton Harvesters ............................................................................. 134 6.3.2 Cotton Module Builders ................................................................... 135
6.4 Cotton Ginning ............................................................................................. 137 6.4.1 Typical Gin Processing ..................................................................... 137 6.4.2 Cotton Moisture Measurement and Management ............................ 138 6.4.3 Cotton Fiber Quality Measurement .................................................. 140 6.4.4 Ginning Process Control for Quality Preservation .......................... 140
6.5 Summary ...................................................................................................... 142 Disclaimer .............................................................................................................. 143 References .............................................................................................................. 143
the U.S. total, followed by Georgia and California. Upland cotton is by far the predominant type of cotton grown in the United States. Some American Pima cotton, which has longer and ner bers, is grown in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. About 90% of the Pima is produced in California (USDA, 2011b).
