This book provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the recent developments in cotton production and processing, including a number of genetic approaches, such as GM cotton for pest resistance, which have been hotly debated in recent decades. In the era of climate change, cotton is facing diverse abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, toxic metals and environmental pollutants. As such, scientists are developing stress-tolerant cultivars using agronomic, genetic and molecular approaches. Gathering papers on these developments, this timely book is a valuable resource for a wide audience, including plant scientists, agronomists, soil scientists, botanists, environmental scientists and extention workers.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the role of cotton in the economy and cotton production around the world This book offers a complete look at the world’s largest fiber crop: cotton. It examines its effect on the global economy—its uses and products, harvesting and processing, as well as the major challenges and their solutions, recent trends, and modern technologies involved in worldwide production of cotton. Cotton Production presents recent developments achieved by major cotton producing regions around the world, including China, India, USA, Pakistan, Turkey and Europe, South America, Central Asia, and Australia. In addition to origin and history, it discusses the recent advances in management practices, as well as the agronomic challenges and the solutions in the major cotton producing areas of the world. Keeping a focus on global context, the book provides sufficient details regarding the management of cotton crops. These details are not limited to the choice of cultivar, soil management, fertilizer and water management, pest control, cotton harvesting, and processing. The first book to cover all aspects of cotton production in a global context Details the role of cotton in the economy, the uses and products of cotton, and its harvesting and processing Discusses the current state of cotton management practices and issues within and around the world’s cotton producing areas Provides insight into the ways to improve cotton productivity in order to keep pace with the growing needs of an increasing population Cotton Production is an essential book for students taking courses in agronomy and cropping systems as well as a reference for agricultural advisors, extension specialists, and professionals throughout the industry.

Today's world textile and garment trade is valued at a staggering $425 billion. We are told that under the pressure of increasing globalisation, it is India and China that are the new world manufacturing powerhouses. However, this is not a new phenomenon: until the industrial revolution, Asia manufactured great quantities of colourful printed cottons that were sold to places as far afield as Japan, West Africa and Europe. Cotton explores this earlier globalised economy and its transformation after 1750 as cotton led the way in the industrialisation of Europe. By the early nineteenth century, India, China and the Ottoman Empire switched from world producers to buyers of European cotton textiles, a position that they retained for over two hundred years. This is a fascinating and insightful story which ranges from Asian and European technologies and African slavery to cotton plantations in the Americas and consumer desires across the globe.