Development countries get professional cotton advice
A total of 250 million people around the globe work in cotton production and more than 80 countries grow cotton in industrialised countries but predominantly in developing countries. Numerous cotton-related research projects focus on current problems with cotton production and several of these projects are supervised the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in cooperation with the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)
The results of some projects can now be transferred into practice and they will be long time surveyed in order to secure the correct implantation and to document their influences and effects. Since these concepts are dedicated to international orientation they will be applicable to many countries. Research subjects are methods of cotton cultivation, pest management, harmonisation of instrument testing, or price risk management as well as utilisation of by-products.
Shortly a project for standardising instrumental test methods will be completed and the German Fibre Institute Bremen e.V. has been greatly involved in that project with the aim to develop a reliable system of cotton classing based on HVI data and African laboratories were able to participate in the development. The project “Integrated Pest Management for Cotton” was realised in Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel and Zimbawe with a focus on profitability within the net value chain. At the time of the project, fibre quality was affected by sucking insects, especially the whitefly and was to be improved in the course of the project and close to ten years research was necessary to get this problem under control and under drastically reduced insecticide application. Another terminated project was aimed at utilising cotton by-products in India.