Cotton is a xerophyte — a plant that requires very little water to grow. It is basically a desert crop, with a deep root system that’s ideal for arid climates. A cotton plant needs water at critical times during its growth to produce a good yield, but most of the time, seasonal rainfall (sometimes assisted by irrigation) is all that cotton needs!
It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere! Home owners are watering their grass, and golf courses are pampering their immaculate greens and fairways. Here's something for cotton's critics to consider, as they water their lawns and prepare to tee off on a Sunday morning... It takes more water to grow an acre of grass than it does to grow an acre of cotton.
For years, media outlets have been reporting that it requires as many as 20,000 litres of water to grow a single kilgram of cotton fibre. But comprehensive research by the ICAC's own Dr. Keshav Kranthi, Head of the Technical Information Section, shows that cotton needs only 1,214 litres of blue water to produce 1 kg of lint. More than 60% of the water cotton 'consumes' is 'green water' that simply falls from the sky and is returned to the environment as part of the natural life cycle.
The skyrocketing amount of plastic trash is unquestionably a scary situation, and the calls to ban plastics straws and “cotton buds” are worth considering. However, note that in this context, "cotton bud" refers to the plastic stem, NOT the cotton swabs themselves. Also, many manufacturers have replaced the plastic stems with paper ones to minimise their environmental impact.
Talk about efficiency! Cotton occupies a mere 3% of the world's agricultural area -- yet it meets 27% of the world's textile needs. That's getting your fibre's worth! Globally, cotton's land use has remained relatively constant over the past 50 years, but the volume of fibre produced has increased. In other words, cotton growers are producing more cotton without planting on more land.
Additive manufacturing has evolved from a pipe dream to a hotbed of innovation. Cotton-based filaments are appealing to 3D printers because they:
The people have spoken: Whether working or resting, cotton is #1! The majority of consumers say cotton is the best fabric for activewear, and more than 2 out of 3 say that 100% cotton sheets offer the best night’s sleep.
Although about 80 percent of the world’s production comes from Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, the United States and Uzbekistan, cotton is grown in more than 100 countries – and it provides an income to hundreds of millions of people around the world every year.