US crop progress data has shown stable quality conditions for both staple crops corn and soybean, but both harvests' progress remains behind expectations on bad weather, data from the USDA has shown late Monday.

Cotton is mostly grown in monoculture and is a very pesticide-intensive crop. Although it is only grown on 2.5% of the world’s agricultural land, it consumes 16% of all the insecticides and 6,8% of all herbicides used worldwide.

Cotton is used in a variety of ways, but the protein-heavy plant has never been safe to eat. That's because it contains the chemical gossypol, which protects cotton from insects but is toxic to humans. According to Scientific World Journal, gossypol lowers people's blood potassium and can cause weakness, respiratory issues, and paralysis.

This year farmers dedicated over 90% of soybean, corn and cotton acres to bioengineered seeds. Most were herbicide tolerant (HT), insect resistant (Bt) or a stack of both, according to USDA. 

According to the latest cotton estimate production should increase 153% over the previous season. Cotton plantings under irrigation increased by 167% compared to last season. There is renewed interest in cotton, combined with favourable prices.

The cotton industry in South Africa has been revived thanks to a R200 million government-funded programme that has unlocked private sector investments and buying power worth hundreds of millions.

Even in the advent of massive textile influx from China and second-hand clothes from other countries, cotton farming is still regarded highly in Zimbabwe.

Die wêreldverbruik van katoen sal na verwagting met ongeveer 1,5% in 2019/20 toeneem. Die ICAC (International Cotton Advisory Committee) voorspel dat die wêreldverbruik van katoen 'n rekord hoë vlak van 27,3 miljoen ton in 2019/20 sal bereik ondanks handelsonsekerhede, verswakking in globale ekonomiese groei en die verlangsaming in die vraag na katoen.

The international corn market experienced high levels of volatility this week as the wet weather continues to delay plantings. The price of US corn increased by 2.9% week-on-week with the premium for white corn up by 124.3% from US$3.44/ton last week.

The local Sustainable Cotton Cluster (SCC) is dreaming big. It is planning to launch a sustainable and transparent cotton production and beneficiation pipeline in South Africa, successfully connect it to offshore supply chains, and tap into a growing global consumer conscience.

Maize: On the 26th September 2019, the CEC will release its 7th production forecast for the summer grains.

The global cotton-seed oil market revenue amounted to $8.2B in 2018, falling by -3.6% against the previous year.

It is expected that global trade will grow by 2% in the 2019/20 season while Chinese imports will amount to about 1, 8 million tonnes of fibre that indicates a 14% decline compared to the previous season.

The full impacts and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on human well-being and the global economy remain to be seen, the situation continues to develop rapidly.

The West African nation of Burkina Faso was once the poster child for genetically modified (GM) crop advocates.

Field after field of green cotton plants surrounding Lubbock, Texas, will soon turn into a blanket of white, as just beyond the city limits sits the largest cotton patch in the country.

Cotton is considered one of the world’s greatest poverty alleviating crops, with 150 million people worldwide relying on it for income.

The Center for Global Policy in December released a damning report  detailing how ethnic minority labourers in the Xinjiang region in China – which produces 85% of the country’s and 20% of the world’s cotton - are forced to pick cotton by hand through state-mandated schemes and which potentially could have devastating consequences for global supply chains that use the region’s cotton as a raw material.

Better Cotton has announced the launch of its new climate change mitigation target as part of a new strategy designed to deliver substantial environmental, social and economic impact across the cotton industry by 2030.