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In Turkey, which is the sixth largest cotton producer in the world, cottons are mainly categorised and priced according to their location, as the Aegean cotton category and the remained Turkish regions category since it is believed that Aegean cotton has superior properties compared to the other regions of the country However a large national project, called the South Anatolian Project (GAP) aims to improve the irrigation and agricultural capacity of the southeast region; it has been nearly completed and is expected to change the cotton picture of the country significantly Recent figures indicate that cotton production areas are shifting from the west to the southeast, mainly as a result of GAP. Following this new trend, a change in fibre properties is also expected. In this research work, we examined the physical properties of cotton samples of known varieties taken from 19 different regions The samples were tested on an Uster HVI Spectrum for fibre properties, and then the effect of location was evaluated. The test results indicate that some cotton varieties in the southeast part of the country have better cotton properties than the same variety in the Aegean region This result confirms that the current standardisation method used in Turkey is out of date and should be changed in the near future. We also compared test results with Uster World Statistics In general, Aegean-region cottons seem to be getting coarser in recent years, while some varieties in the southeast region are longer, finer, more mature and have better elongation values. However, in the southeast parts, picking and ginning techniques should be improved for cleaner cottons. |
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