Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Technological Advancements in Cotton Agronomy: A Review and Prospects
Version 1
: Received: 20 February 2024 / Approved: 22 February 2024 / Online: 23 February 2024 (09:08:09 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Adeleke, A. (2024). Technological Advancements in Cotton Agronomy: A Review and Prospects. Adeleke, A. (2024). Technological Advancements in Cotton Agronomy: A Review and Prospects.
Abstract
Cotton is the most ubiquitous and profitable fiber with diverse industrial and domestic applications. Grown in over 100 countries, it has a global market value of about $40 billion and employs over 350 million people from fields to textile mills, contributing about 7% of total labor-force recruitment in developing economies. Cotton has an indeterminate growth habit and an extensive tap root system affected by soil physicochemical and environmental conditions. There is a consensus among experts that conventional cotton cultivation still has a long way to attain sustainability, which is essential if cotton will maintain its competitive edge over other natural and synthetic fibers like hemp, polyesters, and rayon. Despite several efforts already committed to growing cotton sustainably, sustainability has eluded cotton cultivation globally because of the intense farm inputs (freshwater, pesticides, and heavy-duty equipment) needs, especially in developing economies. Some of the technological advancements towards achieving the goal of sustainable cotton cultivation include the development of new varieties, improved irrigation and mulching and precision agriculture techniques, application of remote sensing and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) combined with image processing, and the introduction of autonomous and multi-purpose robotic platforms for growing and harvesting cotton. This review attempts to evaluate the successes already achieved by stakeholders in moving cotton towards sustainable production and identify areas where efforts are still needed to reach sustainable production and improved profitability goals for cotton with projections for future research directions.
Keywords
Environmental impact; Hybrids; Remote sensing; Robotic platforms; Sustainable agronomy; Technological innovations; Precision cotton farming; Water management;
Subject
Engineering, Other
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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