Cotton production is an important economic factor in the United States as a leading country, worldwide, in the export of cotton. The United States ranks third in production, behind China and India. Almost all the growth and production of cotton fibers occur in the southern and western states, dominated by Texas, California, Arizona, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. More than 99 percent of cotton grown in the US are highland varieties, with the remainder being American Pima. Cotton production is a $ 25 billion industry per year in the United States, employing over 200,000 people in total, as against the growth of forty billion pounds a year from 77 million hectares of land covering more than eighty countries. The final estimate of US cotton production in 2012 is 17.31 million bales, with corresponding figures for China and India being 35 million and 26.5 million bales, respectively.
Early cotton farming in the United States is synonymous with the history of slavery in the United States. By the late 1920s about two-thirds of all African-American tenants and nearly three-quarters of the farmers worked in the cotton fields, and two out of three black women from black-landed families were involved in cotton farming. Cotton agriculture is one of the key areas of racial tension in its history, where many white people express concern about the black workings of blacks in the industry and the dramatic growth of black landowners. South black cotton farmers face discrimination from the north in particular, and strikes are frequent by black cotton farmers. Although the industry was heavily influenced by falling prices and pests in the early 1920s, the main reason was undoubtedly the mechanization of agriculture in explaining why many blacks moved to northern American cities in the 1940s and 1950s during " Great Migration "as the mechanization of agriculture. introduced, leaving many unemployed. The Hopson Planting Company produced the first cotton plant that was fully grown, harvested, and tied up by a machine in 1944.
Video Cotton production in the United States
History
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Native Americans were observed growing cotton by the Coronado expedition in the early 1540s. It also leads the slave trade to meet the growing need for labor to grow cotton, labor-intensive plants and cash crops of great economic value. And in South America, all civilizations are based on "King Cotton". As the main crop, the southern part of the United States is prosperous thanks to an economy that relies on slavery. For centuries, cotton became a staple crop on American agriculture. The cotton plantations are also subsidized in the country by the US government, as trade policies, especially for "corporate agribusiness" are virtually devastating to the economies of people in many underdeveloped countries such as Mali and many other developing countries (in the view of low profits in the US Because of the intense competition from the United States, workers can barely meet the need to survive by selling cotton.
Initial period
Historians believe that cotton farming was introduced to the United States by immigrants. While it was listed in Florida in 1556 and in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, it is believed that cotton has been grown and cultivated in the United States since 1621. Plantation owners carry the supply of mass labor (slaves) from Africa and the Caribbean and Mexico. to farm in the fields during the cotton harvest. Black women and children are also employed in industry. Cotton agriculture is a major issue of racial conflict in the history of the United States, especially during the nineteenth century. Before the US Civil War, cotton production expanded from 750,000 bales in 1830 to 2.85 million bales in 1850. After that, Southern black cotton farmers faced discrimination from the North, and many white Democrats were concerned about how many of them were employed in the US Cotton Industry and the dramatic growth of black landowners. They urged white farmers in the South to control the industry, which from time to time resulted in strikes by black cotton pickers; such as blacks led by Memphis Colorers Association (CFA) peasants organizing a strike in Lee County, Arkansas in 1891, which resulted in much violence. Black cotton farmers are very important to entrepreneurs who emerged during industrialization in the United States, especially Henry Ford.
20th century
United States, observed in 1940 that "thousands of black cotton growers every year now go to polling stations, standing parallel to their white neighbors, and mark their ballots independently without protest or intimidation, to determine government policy on cotton production. control." However, discrimination against blacks continues as in other societies, and separate incidents are common. On September 25, 1961, Herbert Lee, a black cotton farmer and voter registration organizer, was shot in the head by a white state legislator in Liberty, Missouri. But the cotton industry continues to be very important for blacks in the southern United States, far more than whites. By the late 1920s about two-thirds of all African-American tenants and nearly three-quarters of the farmers worked in the cotton fields. Three of the four black agricultural operators generate at least 40% of their income from cotton farming during this period. Studies conducted during the same period showed that two out of three black women from the family of black landowners were involved in cotton farming.
The introduction of modern textile machinery such as rotating jenny, electric looms and cotton gins brought more profit, and cotton towns, "more hospitable than the British" came to be established in this country. After the end of slavery in the southern states, boll gobs, pests from Mexico, began to spread throughout the United States, drastically affecting crops as they moved eastward. Fashion fabrics from blue jeans continued the boom of cotton for three decades. Adoption of chemical pesticides to reduce disease and thereby increase the yield further encourages production. Further innovation in the form of genetic engineering and nanotechnology is an encouraging development for cotton growth.
The average production of fiber per acre in 1914 was estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture to be 209 pounds, a nominal change from 1911 when it was £ 208. In the early 1910s, the average yield per acre varied between countries: North Carolina (290 pounds), Missouri (279 pounds), South Carolina (255 pounds), Georgia (239 lb); results in California (500 pounds) were associated with growth in irrigated land. In 1929, California cotton farms were the largest in the US (by land size, production, and number of employees). In the 1950s, after years of development, mechanical cotton pickers had become quite effective for commercial, and quickly gained attractiveness and affordability throughout the US cotton growing area.
The cotton industry in the United States suffered a crisis in the early 1920s. Prices for cotton and tobacco collapsed in 1920 after overproduction and barium borer pests wiped out the island's cottonseed in 1921. Annual production declined from 1,365,000 bales in the 1910s to 801,000 in the 1920s. In South Carolina, Williamsburg County's production dropped from 37,000 bales in 1920 to 2,700 bales in 1922 and one farmer in McCormick County produced 65 bales in 1921 and only 6 in 1922. As a result of a devastating harvest in 1922, about 50,000 black cotton workers left South Carolina, and by the 1930s the country's population had declined by about 15%, largely due to stagnant cotton. Although the industry was heavily influenced by falling prices and pests in the early 1920s, the main reason was undoubtedly the mechanization of agriculture in explaining why many blacks moved to northern American cities in the 1940s and 1950s during " Great Migration "as the mechanization of agriculture. introduced, leaving many unemployed. The Hopson Planting Company produced the first cotton plant that was fully grown, harvested, and tied up by a machine in 1944.
Recent period
In 2012, production reached 17.3 million bales, with 12.3 million hectares planted. The average price is $ 0.71 per pound with a harvest value of $ 5.97 billion. A report published in May 2012 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA places the highest cotton-producing countries such as Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Missouri, Alabama, California, South Carolina and Louisiana.
Maps Cotton production in the United States
Export
The United States is the top exporter of cotton in the world. Four of the top five US cotton importers are in North America; the main objective is Honduras, with about 33% of the total, although this has decreased slightly in recent years. The next most important importer is Mexico, with about 18%, a number that has stabilized widely, and then the Dominican Republic, although exports have declined as a proportion of the total in recent years. China imported about 11% of US cotton last year, which was a sharp increase over the previous season, allowing it to overtake El Salvador, which consistently imports about 8-9% of its total. Cotton exports to China grew from $ 46 million in 2000 to more than $ 2 billion in 2010. In Japan, especially Texas cotton is highly regarded as a powerful fiber that can be used for low-voltage weave.
Cotton production by state
Texas
Texas produces more cotton than any other country in the United States. With eight production areas around Texas, and only four geographic areas, it is the state's main cash crop. Texas produces about 25% of the country's cotton crop in more than 6 million hectares, equivalent to more than 9,000 square miles (23,000 km 2 ) of cotton fields. Texas Cotton Producers includes nine certified cotton farmers organizations; discuss issues of national and state cotton farmers, such as national agricultural laws and environmental laws.
California
Kapas California is mostly grown in seven districts in the San Joaquin Valley, although the Palo Verde Valley and the Valley also have cultivated land. In the 1990s cotton was also grown in the Sacramento Valley. California is the largest Pima cotton producer in the United States. California's cotton industry provides over 20,000 jobs in the state and generates revenues of more than $ 3.5 billion per year.
Arizona
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, federal agricultural engineers worked in the Arizona Territory on a trial site in Sacaton. This is where the Pima Indians cultivate a variety of cotton hybrids looking for the ideal characteristics. In the early 1900s, the botanist Thomas Henry Kearney (1874-1956) created a long cotton pad named Pima after the Indians who planted it. In 1910, he was released to the market. While in 1987, Arizona produced 66% of Pima cotton in the country, having dropped to just 2% in recent years.
Mississippi
From 1817 when it became a country, to 1860, Mississippi was the largest cotton producing country in the United States. Cotton is the main plant in Mississippi with about 1.1 million hectares planted every year. The highest recorded regions were in 1930 (4,163 million acres); the year's highest production was 1937 (2,692 million bales produced over 3,421 million acres); the highest cotton yield in 2004 (1034 pounds of fiber produced per acre).
Missouri
Missouri cultivates upland cotton, and cottonseed is valuable animal feed. The industry is facing the challenge of increasing cotton production elsewhere where US cotton exports have gone and switched to cheaper synthetic fibers, such as polyester.
Florida
Limited cotton planting at the westernmost tip of the country; more than 50% of Santa Rosa County's crop is cotton.
Further reading
- Beckert, Sven (2014). Empire of Cotton: A Global History . US: Vintage Book Division, Penguin Random House. ISBN: 978-0-375-71396-5. Ã,
See also
- Cotton
- Cotton King
- Slavery in the United States
- Brazilian-US cotton dispute
Footnote
Further reading
- Roger G. Kennedy, Cotton and Conquest: Howe Plantation Systems Acquires Texas. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.
External links
- US. cotton production by country
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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