Study: Organic Cotton Production

Study: Organic Cotton Production - Abstract: Cotton sold as .organic. must be grown according to the federal guidelines for organic crop production. Soil fertility practices that meet organic certification standards typically include crop rotation, cover cropping, animal manure additions, and use of naturally occurring rock powders. Weed management is accomplished by a combination of cultivation, flame weeding, and other cultural practices. A wide variety of insects attack cotton. Management options include trap cropping, strip cropping, and managing border vegetation to encourage high populations of native beneficials. Certain biopesticides using bacteria, viruses, and fungal insect pathogens are available as insect control tools.

We discuss specific insect management strategies for cutworm, cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, pink bollworm, armyworm, loopers, thrips, fleahoppers, lygus bugs, aphids, whitefly, spider mite, and boll weevil. Seedling disease, soil disease, and foliar disease management is also discussed. Pre-harvest defoliation methods that meet organic certification are mostly limited to citric acid, flamers and frost. The publication concludes with sections on marketing organic cotton and the economics and profitability of organic cotton production.

By: Martin Guerena and Preston Sullivan. NCAT Agriculture Specialists. July 2003

Keywords: cotton, organic, production, management, crop, soil, fertility, crop rotation, cover cropping, manure, rock powder, cutworm, cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, pink bollworm, armyworm, loopers, thrips, fleahoppers, lygus bugs, aphids, whitefly, spider mite, and boll weevil.

Cotton Prices Outlook, June 18

Cotton Prices Outlook, June 18 - Cotton prices are holding near the bottom of a 5-month trading range, well below March's record high of $2.27 a pound, the highest price since cotton began recorded-trading 140 yrs ago. 

Bearish factors include (1) slack Chinese demand after May China cotton imports fell for a fourth month, -27% y/y to 145,000 MT, and (2) US cotton exporters in the week ended Jun 10 reporting more canceled orders than purchases for the eleventh straight week.

Bullish factors include (1) USDA's Jun 9 cut in its 2010/11 US cotton production estimate to 17 mln bales and the cut in its 2011-12 global cotton production estimate to 123.77 mln bales, (2) USDA's weekly crop conditions that show the US cotton crop as of Jun 12 in 28% good-to-excellent condition vs. last year's 62%, and (3) strong Chinese demand that reduced global supplies after 2010 China cotton imports surged 86% y/y to 2.84 MMT.

Weekly US cotton exports (week ended Jun 9) were 219.0 thousand running bales; cumulative 2010/11 (Aug-July) exports up +38% y/y.

Fundamental Outlook- Bull market correction -Cotton prices are consolidating well below their record high after the USDA lowered its US export estimates and from recent weakness in Chinese demand. The longer-term trend remains bullish on global supply concerns and a global stocks/use ratio of 36.3%, the tightest since 1993-1994. @ commodity prices

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indian cotton export news june 10 2011, india agriculture commodities

indian cotton export news june 10 2011, india agriculture commodities - Cotton export enhancement shocks Indian spinning sector: LUBBOCK (Commodity Online) : Cotton export enhancement by one million bales this season has shocked the Indian cotton spinning sector.

Coimbatore-based The Southern India Mills’ Association in a statement today, June 9th has expressed dissatisfaction with the recent Indian government’s decision to cap the cotton export this season at 6.5 million bales of 170 kg each instead of 5.5 million bales.

Government of India on June 8th decided to increase this year’s cotton export by one million bales (170 kg each).

J Thulasidharan, Chairman of SIMA has stated that the government has earlier assured to maintain a closing balance of 5 million bales. With the enhanced export limit, the closing stock this year will come down to 1.75 million bales.

In a statement, SIMA Chief has criticized India’s Agriculture Ministry for over estimating this year’s crop to be 33.9 million bales. SIMA is backing an estimate of 31 million bales, which is less than the Agriculture Ministry’s estimate.

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