The industry of the cotton is one of the chain more ancient in history and today constitutes a multimfaccen business whose induced in the year 2020 guaranteed the sustenance to Ben 1 billion peopleincluded 100 million small farmers owners of small plots of land. In the shade of these numbers, however, other less known but equally important aspects are hidden, such as the Struggle without neighborhood Among the main producing countries, eager to conquer new market slices, and cultivation and collection practices that have produced authentic Environmental disasters And it exploitation of entire populations.
Origins and short history of cotton industry
Cotton is a textile fiber obtained from the ovatte that wraps the seeds of the shrub plants of the genre Gossypium. In reality there are several species of plants of this kind that produce cotton, however during the history only four have been domesticated and, subsequently, commercially cultivated:
- Gossypium Hirsutum – native of Central America, Mexico, Caribbean and Southern Florida;
- Gossypium Barbadense – native of the tropical regions of South America;
- Gossypium Arboreum – native of the area of the Indian subcontinent;
- Gossypium Herbaceum – native of southern Africa and the Arabic peninsula.
For this reason there is no single place of origin cotton (unlike the case of coffeefor example) but rather a set of places where a certain number of civilizations distinct from each other have started domestication.
Exactly as it happened to other species both vegetable and animals domesticated by humans for their livelihood and/or economic activities, throughout the history the aforementioned shrub plants have been the subject of a selection process that favored the emergence of the most varieties productive, but it was only the invention of the cotton shell by Eli Whitney In 1793 (later patented on March 14, 1794) to make the process of processing raw material for industrial purposes easily (First industrial revolution). Although therefore it accompanies the development of humanity since ancient times, only in a relatively recent time span has cotton has become a large consumer product.
The main cotton producing countries

According to data for the year 2022the overall production of cotton by the 21 main manufacturers it amounted to almost 70 million tons of raw material. Important to note the fact that these manufacturers represent a heterogeneous set that sees the presence of Great Asian powers (like China, India and Pakistan), but also the United States of Americaalmost all The ex-Muslims of the Soviet Union (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tagikistan, Kazakistan and Azerbaijan), Latin American powers as a rise (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina) and even an important group of countries of theAfrica Francofona (Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Ivory Coast, Cameroon).
In general, the factors that most influence cotton cultivation are of climatic and environmental nature. There ideal temperature For the cultivation of cotton it is around under 25 ° C. In an interval between 25 and 35 ° C, however, molds can be developed, while at 0 ° C the cotton freezes. Another strongly conditioning element is the water demand so much so that, on average, for the production of 1 kg cotton are needed Between 8,000 and 10,000 liters of water While in particularly dry areas the quantity even increases to 22,500 liters.
The “dark side” of the cotton industry
Although the induced of the cotton industry guarantees the sustenance of over 1 billion people (2020 data), very often in developing countries the workers in the sector receive very low compensation for the work they lend. The dependence of cotton on the supply of large quantities of water, moreover, risks negatively affect the availability of blue gold for the needs of the population.
Not only that: the development of cotton crops He was at the basis of one of the worst ecological disasters of history, when Soviet leaders they decided to divert huge Water volumes from the courses of Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers bringing to Hanning of Lake Aral.
Beyond its environmental impact, the cotton industry has been accused several times of causing the “Slavery reduction” of entire populations, “obliged” to work on the collection of cotton in conditions at the limit of exploitation. Precise accusations in this sense (including that of exploitation of child labor) were moved against the authorities of Ex-Soviet States of Central Asiaespecially theUzbekistan and the Turkmenistan.
Lastly, starting from the early 2000s, some practices of unfair competition undertaken by United States of America they would have met the firm opposition, especially on site WTO (World Commerce Organization), by the Brazil and a group of African producers called “Cotton-4” (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) who collectively denounced the “modus operandi”, in their incorrect notice, of subsidy your cotton industry thus preventing other competitors from conquering Vitali market shares to make their economic development take off.