Cotton is a white fibrous agricultural product that has a wide variety of uses, from textile production, to creating paper, to producing oil and food products. Cotton is grown all around the globe, and is traded internationally as well – the international trade in cotton is led by the United States and the African nations, and totals more than $12 billion annually. This article will discuss the basics of cotton’s development through history, its cultivation today, and the large array of applications for this amazing plant.

 

Taxonomy and Natural History

 

Cotton (from the Arabic word ‘al-qutn) is a member of the malvaceae family of flowering plants that includes hibiscus, pavonia and mallow plants. More specifically, cotton is classified with a genus of tropical and subtropical shrubs known as gossypium. There four commercial species of cotton, the most common of which is gossypium hirsutum, a variety native to Mesoamerica, Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean. The other three are g. arboreum, or “tree cotton,” which is grown primarily in India and Pakistan; g. barbadebse, also called “Creole,” or “Egyptian” cotton, a South American variety; and g. herbaceum, the “Levantine” cotton native to southern Africa and the Middle East. Cotton was first cultivated more than 6000 years ago, in the Harappan cultural region of southeast Asia. Its use spread from there and farmers around the world adopted the plant for their own specific climate needs.

 

There are also several wild species; experiments in cross-breeding these with domesticated varieties have been ongoing in attempts to produce cotton plants with greater drought tolerance and disease resistance.

 

The domestication of cotton appears to have begun in present-day Pakistan approximately 6,000 years ago. The Harrappan civilization of the Indus River Valley exported cotton fabrics to the early Semitic peoples of the Middle East as well as the Egyptians starting around 3000 B.C.E.; from there, cotton made its way into Nubia, Meroë and the interior of Africa. Similar domestication of cotton apparently took place in the Americas independently, albeit later: the ancient Peruvian Moche and Nazca civilizations, which flourished as Rome was declining in Europe, made extensive use of cotton fabric.

 

Eventually, cotton fabric was introduced to Europe by way of the Greeks, who described cotton as “tree wool.” Until the Renaissance, Europeans folklore held that cotton trees bore “vegetable lambs,” whose wool was used to create cotton fabric (cotton is still called Baumwolle, or “tree wool” in Germany).

 

Cotton in the Textile and Fabric Industries

 

In addition to the creation of several different fabrics, including terrycloth, denim, corduroy, twill and flannel, cotton is used to make fishnets and reusable coffee filters. Cotton’s versatility, durability and utility have led to entire sectors of the fabric industry being entirely dependent on it, although this dominance has diminished in the age of synthetic fabrics.

 Cotton as Food, Medicine, and Paper 

Cottonseed oil and cottonseed meal are by-products of the ginning process; the invention of the cotton gin, which permitted mechanical separation of the cotton boll, opened the door to economically practical use of cotton byproducts. The oil and meal are edible; the former can be used in cooking, while the latter is generally fed to livestock. In addition, cotton root bark has a place in folk medicine; it was used by female slaves in the early U.S. to induce abortion.

 

Before the age of inkjet and laser printing, the best typing paper was made from cotton fabric. As with fabrics, this pride of place is somewhat less than in previous decades, but cotton still is used in many paper product applications.

 Raising Cotton 

Traditionally, cotton cultivation has been extremely labor-intensive. The introduction of mechanical cotton-pickers has changed this over the past 50 years or so, and it is still picked by hand in many places in the world. Cotton requires great amounts of water and pesticides as well as fertilizers. Some varieties of cotton have been genetically modified in order to make them more pest and disease resistant; these varieties are grown primarily in India. In the U.S., a variety of GM cotton has been developed which contains genetic material from a bacterium that is toxic to the boll weevil and other insects that feed on cotton.

 

Cotton requires a fairly long growing season, heavy soil, plenty of light and at least two feet of rain in order to thrive. Because it is so water-dependent, cotton cultivation has led to major problems such as desertification and increased salinity in parts of the former Soviet Union. Currently, the U.S. and several African countries are the largest exporters of cotton, although the textile industry of the U.S. has largely moved to China and India.

 

The United States is still the world’s third-largest producer of cotton. The United States is at the leading edge of the technological and research aspect of cotton production. Three quarters of the US cotton crop is genetically modified, and at the same time the US leads the world in experiments in organic cotton – non-genetically modified cotton that is raised without pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic cotton is beginning to appear in small quantities at a number of retailers in the U.S.

 

Cotton production in the United States has also led the world, historically and in the modern era, in the use of mechanical cultivation, harvesting, and processing tools. Cotton’s utility in the world made a huge leap forward with the invention of cotton gin technology in the 1800s, and with cotton picking and stripping machinery in the 20^th century. While cotton may never again be king, the increasing scarcity of petroleum as a base for synthetic fibers and the amazing utility of this versatile crop ensure that it will always be agricultural royalty.

Wheat is the second-most produced crop on Earth, lagging behind only corn. Wheat provides a large fraction of the dietary protein and total food supply, and is grown all throughout the world, in a wide variety of climates. Wheat is a staple crop, grown as a primary food product and for other uses as well. In this article, we will talk about the origin and history of wheat as a cultivated crop, the many uses for wheat, and how wheat is grown today in the United States and around the world.

 Taxonomy and Natural History 

Wheat is perhaps the oldest domesticated plant). According to paleobotanists and archaeologists, the modern domesticated form of this cereal grain originated in Southeastern Anatolia, around the region of Diyarbakir Province in present-day Turkey, around 8500 BC. Many cultures in the region had developed a semi-dependence on wild grains that are the forebears of modern wheat plants, and as cultures grew more adapted to using this handy wild plant, some unnamed geniuses developed methods to permanently cultivate suitable varieties. Over a period of hundreds, and later thousands of years, farmers and proto-agronomists developed more and more fruitful and reliable specimens and bred them selectively.

 

Thanks to those efforts, there are now over 20 different species of wheat cultivated throughout the world. Like other cereal grains such as barley, millet and rice, wheat is a member of the poaceae family, and is related to lawn and prairie grasses. Due to wheat’s thorough domestication over the past 10,000  years, wheat has lost its natural seed dispersal mechanism and can no longer propagate itself naturally.

 

Common Varieties of Wheat

 

There are six distinct varieties of wheat cultivated in the U.S. These are:

-          Durum

-          Hard Red Spring

-          Hard Red Winter

-          Soft Red Winter

-          Hard White

-          Soft White 

In general, “hard” varieties are better for baking bread and brewing, while “soft” wheat is more suited to cake flour and pie crust. Durum is an especially “hard” variety that is used in the manufacture of semolina flour in pasta.

 

Wheat as Food

 

Wheat is most commonly ground into flour for use in the baking of breads; it is also eaten as a porridge-type cereal. Other nutritive uses of wheat includes pasta, made from flour and eggs; bulgur, a North African pilaf similar to rice; as a thickening agent for sauces and gravies when combined with butter and/or oil to form roux; quickbreads (pancakes and muffins); and in unleavened breads such as crackers and matzoh. These examples only scratch the surface of the many food products that clever cooks and bakers have invented over the millennia.

 

Wheat is commonly fermented to make alcoholic beverages, primarily beer. Whiskey made from wheat originated in ancient times when the Roman Empire passed protectionist laws prohibiting the cultivation of grapes north of the Rhine river. Wheat is still the basic ingredient in Scotch and Irish whiskey (the word whiskey derives from the Gaelic word uisge, meaning “water”).

 

The protein found in wheat, known as gluten, makes wheat very versatile in the culinary arts, and is a primary protein source for much of the world’s population.

 

Other Uses of Wheat

 

Wheat is used in a secondary capacity in some markets as a feed for livestock. In extremely primitive agricultural districts, what is still used as a thatching material for huts and sod barns.

 Growing Wheat Wheat thrives in temperate zones throughout the world; a wheat crop can be raised and harvested in a fairly short period of time (seed to harvest is approximately 120 days), making it a popular cash crop. However, wheat is also temperamental; it requires a good working knowledge of the various growing stages in order to know when and how the proper application of fertilizers and pesticides should be done. Wheat is also susceptible to several viruses and fungi and is a primary source of food for the larvae of a number of moths and butterflies; it is estimated that between 10 and 25% of the average wheat crop is lost to disease and pests every year in the United States, and quite probably more in areas with less advanced agricultural infrastructure. The US wheat market is divided into winter wheat (planted in the autumn, harvested in the summer after surviving the winter’s freezes) and spring wheat, which is planted once the danger of frost has passed and is also harvested in the summer.  

At harvest time, wheat stalks begin to bend over from the weight of their kernels, and the entire plant has become golden in color. Traditionally, this is the time of harvest although the modern farmer is more likely to consult a computer program than to eyeball the fields. After the wheat is harvested from the field, machinery separates the stalk and the chaff away from the kernels. The stalks and chaff often are used in applications ranging from mulch to animal bedding. Small organic farmers will permit livestock to graze on a harvested field to make the most use of the byproducts.

 

Currently, China and India produce most of the world’s wheat, although the United States remains a major producer. As population growth slows and more land is turned over to the production of biofuels, less wheat may be raised for food, causing future price hikes. This year, wheat on the futures market has risen to a record $9.00 USD per bushel. Major agricultural price spikes have not spared the wheat market; a drought in Australia and freezing and flooding in the northern hemisphere contribute to a general tightening of food prices and led to wheat’s record price levels. Although weather patterns are always a risk factor in agricultural production, it is likely that wheat prices will fall back somewhat from their current record high, but not likely that there will be a return to low wheat prices in the near future.

The Australian drought continues to worsen, and Australian farmers and ranchers are really feeling the pinch, according to this Reuters report. Farmers have been shooting cattle that they don’t have the ability to feed and the government is encouraging farmers in the drought-stricken southeastern part of the island continent to move to the northern states, where rainfall is actually hitting record levels in some areas.

Scientists say that climate change and global warming are the cause of the shift in rainfall patterns, with the continent as a whole growing hotter and drier. However, water use experts point out that the effects of the drought are being magnified by the heavy development of agriculture in southern Australia – check out this map (about halfway down the page) and you can see that the southeastern farming areas rely on getting every drop of rain that falls there, and in some places actually have to import water from nearby regions in order to irrigate farms and ranches.

Some ranchers are especially aggravated because they’ve spent years or even decades investing in long-term sustainable use for their land, refraining from overgrazing, leaving vegetation in paddock areas, and so forth – all for naught, or so it seems, when the rains just don’t come. Many ranchers are returning to a practice with a long history in Australia – moving stock to what’s called the “Long Paddock”, the roads that wind through the countryside. Dew runs off the roads and creates a tiny greenbelt – not enough to fatten cattle, but enough to keep stock alive for one more day.

Economically, the drought has been devastating for Australian farmers, but not for the country as a whole. Agriculture is still a major part of Australian exports, accounting for about a fifth of total exports, but is only 3% of the gross national product. In addition, farm work has become so highly capitalized in Australia that even major reductions in output due to droughts like this one don’t end up hitting employment figures very hard. Still, this is not a great time to be a farmer in Australia.

Soybeans are legumes, native to East Asia, that are grown for oil and protein around the world. Cultivated primarily in warm and hot climates, soybeans were originally used as nitrogen fixers in early systems of crop rotation – ancient farmers would plant a field of soybeans on an exhausted or depleted field and then plow the crop under to replenish the soil. Development of use technologies such as fermentation and processing for oil has led to many new applications of this useful plant. This article will discuss the origin and development of the soybean, its cultivation and usage, and the crop’s important role in the world economy.

 

Taxonomy and Natural History

 

Soybeans are native to East Asia, where they appear to have been cultivated from a wild species known as glycine soja starting about 5,000 years ago. The semi-legendary Emperor Shennong, the “Divine Farmer” who is believed to have introduced agriculture to the peoples of China and Vietnam, is said to have listed soybeans as one of the “Five Sacred Plants,” a list that also includes rice, wheat, barley and millet. Soybeans were also cultivated in Korea no later than 1000 BC, and in Japan from the time of the Roman Empire.

 

Soy belongs to the fabaceae or leguminosae (legume) family which also includes peanuts, chickpeas and other beans and pulses. This constitutes the third largest family of flowering plants, with well over 19,000 distinct species. Soybeans themselves are hard and rounded, and range in color from black to pale yellow.  Although classified as a bean, a soybean is actually an oilseed like the peanut. Because of their high oil and protein content, soybeans are particularly useful for a variety of purposes.

 

Soybeans were introduced to Europe and the United States from colonial times. However, the plant was not cultivated in significant amounts outside of Asia until 1910. Since then, the balance of production has shifted; 55% of the world soybean crop is harvested in the Americas.

 Soybeans as Food 

Soybeans are primarily consumed by humans after being fermented and turned into a curd. Tofu, a bland, cheese-like substance made from the whey of fermented soybeans, is the most common example of this type of soybean application. Once known as the “Cow of the Orient,” the soybean is about 40% protein, 35% carbohydrate, 20% fatty oil and 5% ash. It is one of the few plants that provide a complete protein, and is therefore often used as a substitute for meat and dairy products. Some food companies such as Morningstar Farms produce simulated bacon, sausage and hamburger from soy with taste and texture that is remarkably similar to the real thing. Because soy protein is quite stable at high temperatures, it is particularly suited to wok cooking and is a staple of many Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Southeast Asian dishes. Another common food use is in milk substitutes, such as soy milk. It was once thought that these applications were primarily modern, but words such as “soy milk” are at least 2000 years old and it is likely that such uses are in fact quite ancient.

 

Soybeans are highly versatile, and the beans can be processed into oil, flour, and meal. Each of these forms has many dietary uses, and soy is one of the more dietarily versatile legumes.

 Soybean Controversies 

In the U.S., soybeans are a chief source of vegetable oil. Because the oil is extracted with the use of the hydrocarbon chemical hexane and is usually hydrogenated in order to create semi-solid shortening, several sources have raised health concerns. Another concern, although one with less scientific grounding, is the production of genetically-modified soy. These GMO beans have been created in order to allow farmers to use certain pesticides, such as Roundup®, without causing harm to the plant itself. This advantage is such a enormous incentive to farmers that the proportion of genetically modified soybeans has jumped from about 8% in 1997 to 89% by 2006. Some concern has been raised about preserving the diversity of the soybean genome, but Roundup modification has been added to nearly all strains, leading to a relatively steady level of genetic diversity in the species.

There are many claims about the health benefits of soy consumption; some scientists say that the isoflavones in soy help to prevent cancer, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved health claims that soy consumption can lower cholesterol levels. However, another study showed that raw soybean flour induced pancreatic cancer in laboratory rats, although these rats were fed amounts far in excess of that which normal humans would normally ingest. Additionally, there have been no studies linking soy consumption and pancreatic cancer in humans, who do not normally eat uncooked flour in any event.

 

Some owners of diesel-powered vehicles have been fueling their cars with used, filtered soybean oil. However, in order to do this, modifications must be made to the fuel system so that the oil does not congeal under cold temperatures. Soybean oil when applied to the skin as also been shown to be effective at repelling mosquitoes and other insect pests.

 

Soybean Production

 

The U.S. has been the largest producer of soybeans, followed by Brazil. However, soybean production has been falling in the U.S. recently, a trend which may continue in spite of the increasing demand for soybeans, owing to competing demands for arable lands as pressure on food crops increases. In 2005, there was a total of 214.3 metric tons of soybeans harvested, over a third of which came from the U.S. This is expected to reach 280 metric tons in the next decade as the demand for biofuels increases. Most US soybeans are actually raised for export.

 

Soybeans grow best in temperatures between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and can grow in a wide range of soil types. The plant is susceptible to a number of bacterial diseases, including blight and wilt. Modern plants reach a height of about 1 meter, and take between 80 and 120 days from planting to harvest.