Anatomy and Morphology of Cotton

Since Sally-Ann is learning everything that needs to be known about cotton, she of course, needs to learn and understand all the parts that conform and the functions of the plant. 

Sally-Ann started reading a book that her aunt recommended her. The book is for agricultural engineers and her aunt thought it might be useful to her. The book has some technical language that Sally-Ann is not very sure what it means but she is willing to try.

The first chapter of the book says that cotton can be classified as a dicot. 

What in the world is a dicot! -Sally-Ann says to herself

Plants can be classified in two groups: monocots (one) and dicots (two). Cotton is a dicot. A dicot  is a plant that has two cotyledons. Cotyledons are the first leaves formed in a seed. Monocots and dicots may have the same plant tissues, but their anatomy and morphology are different. 

Characteristics commonly found in monocots plants are that they are woody or herbaceous, have leaves with netted venation, have vascular bundles in a ring,  have taproot system, and usually have an epigeal germination. 

As you can observe from the picture, clear physical characteristics can be differentiated. One of the clearest one would be the shape of the leaves. Monocots are characterized for having linear leaves with parallel veins. An example of a monocot that we see every day is grass. 

Diocots, on the other hand, have complex vein structures which allow the leaves to have a unique shape.  

It can also be clearly observed the difference between the roots. Monocots are characterised for having a fibrous root system. A fibrous roots system consists of several main roots that each one develops many lateral roots to form an interwoven mass. On the other hand, dicots are charectirized for having a tap root system. A tap root system usually consists of a large main root with small lateral roots. 

As Sally-Ann keeps reading the book, she finds herself getting distracted from the reading and thinking that cotton is actually a really interesting and unique crop. The fact that produces fiber that can be so easily harvest, meaning that it doesn't need to be "extracted" from the plant, you can just take it and thats it. Also, the fact that one single crop basically clothes the entire world is just fascinating.  

There are various reasons why cotton is so used and is the preferred fiber in the textile industry. One of the reasons is the ability that it has to absorb water, therefore is very easy to die it. 

On the left we can observe the different layers of a cotton fiber seen through a microscope. Throughout the fiber structure, specially between each layer there are various pores or capillary spaces. This pores can easily take and retain liquids and vapors. Thus, this structure and characteristics gives cotton their unique absorbing capacity. 

Back to basics

As Sally-Ann started her research of the cotton grown in India she realized she had to go back to the basics. She needed to forget everything she knows about cotton in the USA and start learning about the production in India as if she knew nothing about the subject.  And so she began…

The plant Gossypuim or better known as cotton is believed to have originated in South-America. It was the Inka and Aztec civilizations that first started using the fibers for clothing and other purposes.  It was until Christopher Columbus “discovered” America that cotton started to replace the usual wool clothing used in Europe to cotton clothing. Cotton was way more comfortable and lighter.

The origin of the genus Gossypium is dated to be around 5 to 10 million years ago.  There are approximately 50 varieties of cotton, nevertheless the G. hirsutum specie compromises 90% of the world production.  

G. hirsutum and G.arboreum are grown in all the major growing states in India.

She also learned about the taxonomy of cotton and she found out that cotton is classified as following: 

• Kingdom: Uridiplantae

• Phylum: Streptophyta

•  Class: Rosidae

• Order: Malvales

• Family: Malvceae

• Genus: Gossypsim

• Specie: Hirustum L

•    Long staple cotton: longest fiber 24-27 mm.

•    Medium staple cotton: Length of fiber 20mm-24mm

•    Short staple cotton: length of fiber less than 20mm

•     The oldest cotton fiber ever found was originally form Peru.

•     Indian populations mastered the art of dying cotton and they kept the secret from the    Europeans for many years as a way to show power.

•     Cotton seeds are extremely durable. They can be blown by the wind across an entire ocean and still remain reliable

•     Cotton has been cultivated for over 5,000 years across the world (including in India). Despite the geographic divide between cotton farmers, the crop has been cleaned, prepared, spun and weaved in the same manner everywhere

•     Naturally colored cotton varieties in South America have come in shades of red, yellow, beige, chocolate, pink, purple, green, striped like a tiger and even spotted like a leopard.

•     Cotton can absorb up to 27 times its own weight in water

The types of cotton grown in India can be divided in three.

a.   The fiber is long and shinning making fine and superior quality cloth

b.   Best price

c.    Half the production of India

a.   44% of Indian production

a.   Inferior cotton

b.   Used for inferior cloth

c.    Lowest price

Fun facts:

The adventure begins

The date was set. It was official, she was taking over the family business from her father. Her dad had run the business for more than 50 years and it was time to take a step back and enjoy  a peaceful retirement.
Sally-Ann knows everything that has to do with producing cotton in the USA. After all she grew up at a cotton farm and it seemed that everyone around her all they could do was talk about cotton.
She had 4 months until the official day came up. This meant that she had plenty of time to make the transition as smooth as possible.
She found herself sitting at her family home porch staring at the fields. This was one of her favourite places in the entire world. She was going through all the things she new about cotton, trying to remember everything she had been told since she started to talk and what she had learned while being away in college. After going through all the facts she realised something that made her concerned: she knew everything about cotton production only in the USA and nowhere else in the world.
How can a run a business without knowing how things around the world work?! - she thought.
In that moment, Sally-Ann decided to travel to India and find out everything that is to know about the cotton business there. How they grow cotton there? What varieties they use? The farm systems, the environment , harvesting, storage, inputs & outputs, EVERYTHING! She believes that by understanding how one of her biggest competitors work she will be able to implement knew ideas to her cotton production resulting in better and higher outcomes.
And so, the biggest adventure of her life had just begun...

Meeting Sally-Ann Cotton

Sally-Ann Cotton is an only child born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Her family has been in the cotton business for more than 100 years and now she is to inherit and run the family business.
You can say Miss Sally- Ann is a highly educated woman which has been raised by her parents in a conservative, yet demanding, way. She knew since she was young that much will be expected from her throughout her life. Both her grandfather and father were successful business man and very respected in the political scene. Throughout her life she has been given all the tools she needs to run the family business successfully. Now is the time that she needs to put all her knowledge into practice and prove to everyone she can do it. The most important goal for Sally-Ann is to make her family proud.