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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #109715
Title: GIN EVALUATION OF ULTRA NARROW ROW COTTON IN 1999

Author
item Anthony, William
item MAYFIELD, WILLIAM - USDA COOPERATIVE STATE
item VALCO, THOMAS - COTTON INCORPORATED

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/24/2000
Publication Date: 6/1/2000
Citation: Anthony, W.S., Mayfield, W.D., Valco, T.D. 2000. Gin evaluation of ultra narrow row cotton in 1999. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. Vol. 1: 476-480

Interpretive Summary: Cotton production in the United States suffers from a severe profitability problem. A new production concept for cotton which includes growing the cotton in rows spaced 10 inches apart as compared to 40 inches is under investigation. The new system increases profits by reducing production costs. A negative aspect of the new system is that the narrow-row cotton must be harvested with a machine that strips all the material from the plant compared to a machine that selectively removes the cotton with a minimum of plant parts. The quality of cotton fiber from this new system as it pertains to processing at the textile mill is not known. This study produced cotton from 6 growth locations in the South and Southeast and ginned at USDA facilities in Stoneville, MS. This cotton will be processed at the Pilot Spinning Plant at the USDA Cotton Quality Research Station, Clemson, SC. By using additional cleaning machinery at the gin, the grades of cotton produced under the narrow row system were equivalent to those produced under the conventional system with the exception of problems with segments of bark in the narrow row cotton. If the success at the gin continues through textile processing, some cotton farmers can decrease their production costs and the future of cotton in the United States will improve.

Technical Abstract: This study investigated conventional and ultra narrow row (UNR) cotton grown in 6 areas across the Midsouth and Southeast and ginned on a common gin for fiber quality after ginning and subsequent textile mill processing evaluation. The following gin machines were used for the UNR cotton: Separator-dropper, feed control, dryer, cylinder cleaner, stick machine, dryer, cylinder cleaner, combination bur and stick (CBS) machine, cylinder cleaner, extractor-feeder and saw-type gin stand followed by one air-type and one saw-type lint cleaner. For the conventional cotton, the CBS machine was not used. Initial foreign matter averaged 7.7% and 19.7%, for the conventional and UNR cottons, respectively. The marketing classifications, including foreign matter, were not statistically different. Ultra narrow cotton received barky calls on 3 of the 6 locations as compared to none for the conventional. Lint turnout differed dramatically for conventional and UNR cottons, and averaged 34.8 and 30.7% respectively. About 190 more pounds of material were removed from the UNR cottons in order to produce a 500-lb. bale.