Gossypium

Cotton is a soft, fluffy stable fibre that grows in a boll or protective capsule around the seeds. It is produced by small trees and shrubs of the genus Gossypium. The genus Gossypium comprises around 50 species (Gledhill, 2008). Aking is the largest in species number in the tribe Gossypieae. New species continue to be discovered. The name of the genus is derived from the Arabic word goz, which refers to a soft substance (Smith, 1999). The plant grows upright and has branches spreading in all directions. The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa (Jenkins, 2003).

Gossypium species are distributed in arid to semiarid regions of the tropics and subtropics. Generally, shrubs or shrub-like plants, the species of this genus are extraordinarily diverse in morphology and adaptation, ranging from fire-adapted, herbaceous perennials in Australia to trees in Mexico (Smith,1995). Cultivated cottons are perennial shrubs most often grown as annuals. Plants are 1–2 m high in modern cropping systems, sometimes higher in traditional, multiannual cropping systems, now largely disappearing. The leaves are broad and lobed, with three to five (or rarely seven) lobes. The seeds are contained in a capsule called a "boll", each seed surrounded by fibers of two types. These fibers are the more commercially interesting part of the plant and they are separated from the seed by a process called ginning (Wu et al., 2005).

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF SEED COTTON.

Today, the world uses more cotton than any other fiber, and cotton is a leading cash crop in the U.S. At the farm level alone, the production of each year’s crop involves the purchase of more than $5.3 billion worth of supplies and services. This stimulates business activities for factories and enterprises throughout the country. Processing and handling of cotton after it leaves the farm generates even more business activity. Annual business revenue stimulated by cotton in the U.S. economy Cotton Towelsexceeds

However, we understand from Scholtes et al. (2011) that large scale production of the commodity began in 1968, with the establishment of the Cotton Development Board (CDB). The board was established with the mandate to stimulate the production of cotton, ensure adequate supply of raw materials to local industries and undertake research on improved seed varieties. The CDP was efficient in performing its functions until in 1977 when its production began to fall due to declining producer prices relative to that of food crops. Following a decline in the industry in the 1980s the board was privatized and re-constituted into the Ghana Cotton Company Ltd, with the Government of Ghana keeping 30% of the shares and the remaining70% sold to two textile companies. With time the government was able to increase its shares to 90% because it paid off the debts of one of the company‟s shareholders, namely, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB). The ADB was then state-owned and the payment of the debt was converted into equity for the government. The remaining 10% was shared among 16 private investors which included input providers and textile companies. Scholtes et al (2011) observed that the privatization did not do much in reversing the downward trend in productivity of the cotton industry. This was exacerbated by falling world prices, to