Plunging cotton prices, rising cost of fertilisers, mounting debts have compelled these farmers to stay away from cotton. The 3.2 million-plus cotton growers have been hit hard in recent years by plunging cotton prices and the rising cost of fertilisers and other inputs. This is what most farmers in the V idarbha region of Maharashtra have to say when asked why they no longer wish to cultivate the region s main cash crop. The falling support price for cotton has been a rallying point...

You can't gin very much cotton Operators calculate value of running this year By Greg Hilburn ghilburn@thenewsstar.com Morehouse Parish Cotton Gin's cooperative of farmers invested about $2 million to restore the gin after a 2005 fire, but all of that new equipment will be idle this fall when the harvest begins. You can't gin very much cotton Operators calculate value of running this year By Greg Hilburn ghilburn@thenewsstar.com Morehouse Parish Cotton Gin's cooperative of farmers invested...

In the first three years after its inception, those who strolled through the market probably entered it at Market and Meeting streets and walked east. Clues to why it took two decades for the market to become a reality are in papers that were moved to the old orphan house for safekeeping during the Civil War. One observer described that entrance near where Market Hall would be situated in later years in a Charleston Courier article: "To the left and right of the entrance, country wagons...

Meanwhile, parts of Oklahoma and Texas, the nation's leading producer of the fluffy fiber, have too much moisture as rains continue to drench the region. The USDA production report also estimated that the country's winter wheat production would be 1.56 billion bushels, down 3 percent from last month but 20 percent above 2006. Cool temperatures and wetter than normal conditions in a 41-county region of West Texas that is the world's largest contiguous cotton patch could prove problematic,...

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia's consumption of cotton may increase as much as 8 percent next year, helped by orders for promotional T-shirts for the country's 2009 presidential election, an Industry Ministry official said. The country imports almost all the cotton needed by its textile companies, with the U. Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, may use about 700,000 metric tons of cotton this year, Bukhari said. The agency estimates Indonesia will buy about 490,000 tons...

Mississippi farmers planted 980,000 acres of corn this season, and many have seen their crops decimated by the severe drought in the region. High prices and the demand for corn caused by increased interest in ethanol helped fuel substantial plantings around the country. Good said next year he will cut back on the acreage he has in corn and increase acreage for cotton, soybeans and wheat. Anderson said farmers using irrigation will have higher costs caused by the price of energy and water...

Ethanol got a boost earlier this decade when several states began using it to meet federal Clean Air Act requirements to reduce summertime air pollution from vehicles, replacing the toxic gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) that was found to leak into water supplies. The six projects, announced in February, are expected to be finished within four years and be able to produce 130 million gallons of ethanol a year. Ethanol got a boost earlier this decade when several states...

While these crops are important to America's food supply, they do not represent the majority of American family farmers. We can no longer ignore the specialty growers and the true family farmers for the benefit of a few gigantic agri-businesses. Shuler's letter offers six changes to the Farm Bill -- help specialty crop growers, provide a reliable and consistent disaster assistance program for farmers and protect Western North Carolina's environment. Important agency heads that guide forest...

Department of Agriculture (USDA) projections for 2007/08 indicate that world cotton consumption is expected to significantly exceed the season s new supply of cotton for the first time in 5 years. World cotton consumption has risen steadily since 2003/04 due to a steady expansion in global income and clothing consumption, while new supplies have stagnated since 2004/05. Cotton Council International.