Editor’s note on cotton

In the early 1950s the place of cotton in common use for clothes was being gradually supplanted by synthetic fibres produced from oil.

In recent years cotton has regained its place owing very largely to technological developments in the agricultural sector. Moreover the number of countries producing cotton in large quantities has increased.

Development has led to phenomenal increases in the yield/ha and in the fibre quality of that yield, and labour has been reduced by mechanisation.

In this Issue we describe the improvement in cotton production in Australia and China using entirely different methods. Both countries suffer a scarcity of fresh water. This scarcity has been controlled by different techniques in the two countries. Many other aspects of cotton production are discussed.