AREAS FOR COTTON USAGE

Cotton which can be considered as both a fibre plant and an oil plant among all industrial plants, is of great importance in providing the main raw materials of many industries. It provides fibre for the textile industry, oil (extracted from its seeds) for the vegetal oil industry, trash and oil cake for the animal food industry and again fibre for the cellulose industry.

Following Chart indicates the areas for cotton usage.

Cotton which is cultivated is 69 countries today, has a great economical value with its fibre, with the oil extracted from its crust and with the other by-products.

In covering the human needs, it's preferable against other vegetal and synthetic fibres for possesing natural lint, absorbing sweat, remaining undamaged after being boiled, less conducting the static electricity, air permeability and having advantages with hygienic characteristics.

It provides raw material to vegetal oil industry with the crust oil included at average 20% rate in its seeds, to cellulose industry with linter and contributes to animal feeding with the remaining oil cake composed of plenty amount of aminoacids. Cotton plant is the world's second important source of vegetal oil after the soybean. Covering 25 % of our vegetal oil need, the annual cotton oil production in our country is 130-150 thousand tons while that of the world changes between 3.8 - 4.3 million tons.

The attendance of Anatolia in the World Cotton Production dates back to 1900 years ago. Cotton was brought to Anotolia from India in the 1.st century and was planted later during Bizantium, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Cotton types planted in those periods were Old World cottons with bolls shut. USA originated Upland varieties having open bolls and which conform to the international demands were started to be brought beginning from the 19th century. Ottoman Empire took extensive measures by a law dated 27.01.1862, in order to improve the cotton agriculture.

In Turkey, the basic improvement in cotton agriculture has been realized during the Republic period. Cotton Improvement Stations have been established and cotton investigations have been started on the varieties that have been brought from USA. As a result of these investigations which have been carried out with improvements until today, many cotton varieties have been obtained conforming to the domestic and international market demands and to the ecology of the region.

Cotton which is a vegetal textile raw material has an importatant role in the industry and trade of both our country and the world with various areas for usage. The rapid increase in the world population and in the living standards of the industrializing and developing countries have also increased the cotton consumption and the need for it. According to last data, the usage of cotton fibre has a share of %49 in all fibres being used and cotton fibre has the highest consumption percentage among the textile plants during the last ten years. In the last 30 years, world cotton consumption has reached to nearly 19 million tons by increasing over %50. Although the chemical fibres have still a higher share among the fibres consumed, the increase in people's passions towards natural matters and not being successful in the addition of many properties of natural fibres on that of chemical fibres, make cotton maintain its attraction increasingly.