Three Big Challenges for the Cotton Sector in the Next Decade1. Competition with synthetic fibres is a challenge for cotton in terms of price, demand, reputation and marketing. Continued promotion of cotton's advantages is necessary, particularly among urban populations. Further gradual improvement in fibre quality also is important to attract buyers in the spinning industry.2. Water (and land) availability are critical issues in many cotton production systems, due to drought and/or competition with urban needs. This is particularly difficult due to the rapid increase in urban population and decrease in rural population in many countries. World Bank data shows that cotton producing areas in India, Francophile Africa and China have more than a 40% rural population; USA has 18% and Australia, Brazil and Argentina have 14% or less. Mechanisation is one large difference between those groups. High water use efficiency is an important target with crop agronomy.
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