São Paulo – A research by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) developed long-fiber cotton, which Brazil doesn’t produce and thus needs to import to attend to a market niche. If new researches with the varieties developed prove the productivity of these plants, the country could cultivate domestically fibers that it currently buys from other countries and used to import from Egypt.
The research with varieties of long-fiber cotton, which can reach from 31.3 millimeters to 34.8 millimeters, started in 2011. According to Embrapa, two cultivated varieties were used: one that displays a high productivity and another due to its long fibers. From the cross breeding of the plants, they selected the plants that displayed the greatest fiber length.
According to Luiz Paulo de Carvalho, researcher of Embrapa Cotton, this research is part of a project of genetic improvement of cotton, which receives funding of approximately R$ 200,000 (US$ 64,428). For this research, they used plants from the species Gossypium hirsutum, which are more resistant than the plants from the species Gossypium barbadense. These give rise to the Giza variety, the Egyptian fiber cotton, and Pima, the long-fiber cotton that comes from the United States and Peru.
The use of the G. hirsutum variety also reduced the plant’s cycle. Brazil used to produce long-fiber cotton through the Gossypium hirsutum L.r. marie galante. This variety had a five-year cycle, which would allow the spread of a plague known as boll weevil. The new variety has an annual cycle, which allows the producer higher control over the plague.
“In the United States, they managed to develop long-fibers through a variety selection and I have done this here in Brazil. I was able to obtain plants with up to 34.3 millimeters. I tried a species outside of the Giza and Pima brands, which are the ones most susceptible to diseases”.
The Embrapa Cotton lab is located in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba state, and the researches and planting occurred in the Northeast and Midwest of Brazil. “We have to improve and evaluate the productivity and length of the fiber. After that, we need to go through the Biological Control Unit. At this stage, the variety needs to be planted and analyzed for two years in three different places. We should do the biological control starting next year in Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Goiás”, said Carvalho.
The research should continue for around three years until the new variety is ready to be cultivated on a large scale. “The production could supply the domestic market. If that happens, Brazil won’t need to import. To export the product, however, depends on costs and strategies. Egypt, Peru and the United States are exporters and have a lower cost than Brazil would have”, said the researcher. Despite long and extra-long fibers being valued in the manufacturing of high-end fabrics, it only represents 3% of the world production. Brazil would have the conditions to replicate in its fields this production.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
