{{Short description|Compressed pack of cotton lint}} [[File:Bale of cotton at LA State Cotton Museum IMG 7387.JPG|300px|thumb|A bale of cotton on display at the Louisiana State Cotton Museum in Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana]]

A '''cotton bale''' is a standard-sized and weighted pack of compressed cotton lint after ginning. The dimensions and weight may vary with different cotton-producing countries.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Turner|first=Joseph Addison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFleYb3zuBIC|title=The Cotton Planter's Manual: Being a Compilation of Facts from the Best Authorities on the Culture of Cotton; Its Natural History, Chemical Analysis, Trade, and Consumption; and Embracing a History of Cotton and the Cotton Gin|date=1865|publisher=Judd|pages=273|language=en}}</ref>

== Significance == A bale has an essential role from the farm to the factory. The cotton yield is calculated in terms of the number of bales.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cotton Corporation of India|url=https://cotcorp.org.in/statistics.aspx|access-date=2021-02-24|website=cotcorp.org.in}}</ref> Bale is a standard packaging method for cotton to avoid various hassles in handling, packing, and transportation. The bales also protect the lint from foreign contamination and make them readily identifiable.<ref>{{Cite book|others=United States Congress Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_FCAQAAMAAJ|title=Standardized Bales of Cotton: Hearing, Seventieth Congress, First Session, on S. 872, a Bill to Standardize Bales of Cotton and Requiring Sale of Cotton by the True Net Weight of Bale. May 16, 1928|date=1928|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=100|language=en}}</ref>

=== Cotton bale management system === Bale management encompasses the systematic procedures of categorizing, blending, and assessing bales based on fiber attributes, with the aim of achieving desired quality yarn production at an optimized cost.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kumar |first=R. Senthil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIxqBAAAQBAJ&dq=bale+management+system&pg=PA15 |title=Process Management in Spinning |date=2014-09-23 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4822-0836-8 |pages=15, 16, 17 |language=en}}</ref> Cotton fibres differ in terms of staple length and other physical characteristics; this is an inherent feature.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2022-01-28 |title=Yarn recovery: The He(art) of spinning |url=https://indiantextilejournal.com/yarn-recovery-the-heart-of-spinning/ |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Indian Textile Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Bale management, also known as "bale mixing," is the process of analysing, classifying, and then blending fibres from various bales [which also includes the bales received from other stations] according to their fibre properties in order to create yarn of a specific quality at the most affordable price.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

== Standards ==

=== Bale === A "bale of cotton" is also the standard trading unit for cotton on the wholesale national and international markets. Although different cotton-growing countries have their bale standards, for example, In the United States, cotton is usually measured at approximately {{convert|0.48|m3|ft3|sp=us}} and weighs {{convert|226.8|kg|lb|abbr=off}}.<ref>National Cotton Council of America, "[http://www.cotton.org/tech/bale/bale-description.cfm U.S. Cotton Bale Dimensions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006041034/http://www.cotton.org/tech/bale/bale-description.cfm|date=6 October 2013}}" (accessed 5 October 2013).</ref> In India, the standard bale size is 170&nbsp;kg.<ref name="financialexpress">{{Cite web|date=2012-09-21|title=Cotton imports may rise four fold as record exports deplete stocks|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/cotton-imports-may-rise-four-fold-as-record-exports-deplete-stocks/1005496/|access-date=2021-02-24|website=The Financial Express|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-09-03|title=Cotton - International Year of Natural Fibres|url=http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/cotton.html|access-date=2021-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903094603/http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/cotton.html|archive-date=2011-09-03}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Measurements - The Farm Hub - Textile Exchange|url=http://farmhub.textileexchange.org/learning-zone/glossary/measurements#:~:text=By%20convention,%20a%20%27statistical%27,,%20micronaire,%20strength%20and%20uniformity.|access-date=2021-02-25|website=farmhub.textileexchange.org|archive-date=2021-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514160733/http://farmhub.textileexchange.org/learning-zone/glossary/measurements#:~:text=By%20convention,%20a%20%27statistical%27,,%20micronaire,%20strength%20and%20uniformity.|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Conversion factors|url=http://www.cottonguide.org/cotton-guide/conversion-factors/|access-date=2021-02-25|website=www.cottonguide.org|archive-date=2022-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416202423/https://www.cottonguide.org/cotton-guide/conversion-factors/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Parameters ==== The most important parameters of a cotton bale are:

* Density (448&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>)<ref name=":0" /> * Measurements of the bales (nominally 1.40 m X 0.53 m X 0.69 m)<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Cotton Fiber Chart - Bale Sizes|url=https://www.cottoninc.com/cotton-production/quality/us-cotton-fiber-chart/bale-sizes/|access-date=2021-02-25|website=Cotton Incorporated|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> * Weight (Varies, but ‘statistical’ bale weighs 480&nbsp;lb)<ref name=":0" /> {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" |+Country-wise bale weight<ref name=":1" /> !Sr.No. !Country !Bale in kg |- |1 |Australia |227 |- |2 |Colombia |233 |- |3 |Egypt |327 |- |4 |India |170<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ministryoftextiles.gov.in/sites/default/files/Textiles-Sector-Cotton-Sep19.pdf |title=Cotton Sector |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114090208/http://www.ministryoftextiles.gov.in/sites/default/files/Textiles-Sector-Cotton-Sep19.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |5 |Pakistan |170 |- |6 |Mexico |230 |- |7 |Nigeria |185 |- |8 |South Africa |200 |- |9 |Sudan |191 |- |10 |Tanzania |181 |- |11 |Uganda |181 |- |12 |United States of America |225 |} Advances in standardization are reducing the variation in weights, sizes, dimensions, and densities of cotton bales.<ref name="financialexpress"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=ISO 8115:1986|url=https://www.iso.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/isoorg/contents/data/standard/01/51/15165.html|access-date=2021-02-25|website=ISO|language=en}}</ref>

=== Candy === Candy is another trading unit. A candy weighs approximately 2.09 bales (356&nbsp;kg).<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Press Trust of India|date=2017-04-09|title=MCX traders can see cotton prices in candy too|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/mcx-traders-can-see-cotton-prices-in-candy-too-117040900160_1.html|access-date=2021-11-01}}</ref> In India, ginned cotton is traded in terms of candy also which weighs 356&nbsp;kg (355.62&nbsp;kg).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vora|first=Rutam|title=Cotton trade may soon have uniform unit of measurement|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/cotton-trade-may-soon-have-uniform-unit-of-measurement/article9585828.ece|access-date=2021-02-24|website=@businessline|date=15 March 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cotton Rate, Today's Cotton Price in India: Cotton News on Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/commoditysummary/symbol-COTTON.cms|access-date=2021-02-25|website=The Economic Times}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

== Trash == When cotton is harvested and exposed to ginning, it carries more than 64% cottonseed, 2% waste and 34% fibrous matter (also known as lint).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Akroyd|first=H. David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pzg7DwAAQBAJ&dq=64%25+cottonseed+and+34%25+lint&pg=PT260|title=Agriculture and Rural Development Planning: A Process in Transition|date=2017-10-24|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-96010-6|pages=260|language=en}}</ref> Lower trash percentage in cotton increases the recovery.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kolanjikombil|first=Mathews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEqoDwAAQBAJ&dq=Low+percentage+of+Trash+will+reduce+the+process+waste+in+Blow+Room+and+cards.+There+will+be+less+chances+of+Yarn+defects.&pg=PA21|title=The Substrates: Fibres, Yarn and Fabrics|date=2018|publisher=Woodhead Publishing India Pvt Limited|isbn=978-93-85059-90-2|pages=21|language=en}}</ref> Cotton bales are not pure cotton; they contain foreign contaminants, residual trash and leaf (and other non lint material) that have a direct impact on the recovery in yarn spinning.<ref>{{Cite book|others=United States Agricultural Marketing Service Cotton Division|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHlXt2fmQwcC&dq=trash+in+cotton&pg=PA9|title=The Classification of Cotton|date=1965|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|pages=9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mDrzAAAAMAAJ|title=The Elements of Cotton Spinning|last2=Wilkinson|first2=F. W.|date=1897|publisher=Longmans|language=en}}</ref>

== Gallery == === Cotton cultivation === <gallery mode="traditional">

File:Cottonfieldindia.jpg|Cotton Field at Singalandapuram, Rasipuram, India (2017) File:Cotton field, Ware County, GA, US.jpg|Cotton field File:Cotton plant, Ware County, GA, US.jpg|Cotton plant </gallery>

===Harvesting=== <gallery mode="traditional">

File:BALLS OF COTTON (ANDHRA -SOUTH INDIA) READY FOR HARVEST.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BALLS_OF_COTTON_(ANDHRA_-SOUTH_INDIA)_READY_FOR_HARVEST.jpg |Cotton ready for harvest in Andhra, south India File:Cotton field, late in season.jpg|A cotton field, late in the season File:Bundesarchiv Bild 137-029895, Togo, Pflügen eines Baumwollfeldes.jpg|Cotton plowing in Togo, 1928 File:Armenian cotton.jpg|Picking cotton in Armenia in the 1930s. No cotton is grown there today. File:Cotton Picking in Egypt.tif|A group of Egyptian fellahs picking cotton by hand File:Hand picking cotton (Buka district, Tashkent region, Uzbekistan)-06.jpg|Hand picking cotton (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) File:Module Builder.jpg|A module builder File:2014.01-413-0023ap upland cotton,module ...(Clinch Cnty,Georgia),US wed01jan2014-1557h.jpg|Cotton modules in a harvested cotton field (Clinch County, Georgia, USA, January 2014). File:Module Express.JPG|Case IH Module Express 625 picks cotton and simultaneously builds cotton modules File:Cotton modules.JPG|Cotton modules in Australia (2007) </gallery>

===Ginning and bale making=== <gallery mode="traditional">

Image:Cotton gin EWM 2007.jpg|A model of a 19th-century cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, Connecticut Image:ginplant.jpg|Diagram of a modern cotton gin plant, displaying numerous stages of production File:Cotton jins in use.jpg|Modern ginning machines in working File:Cotton bales at the port in Bombay in the 1860s.JPG|Cotton bales at the port in Bombay, India, 1860's. File:Cotton Ready for Shipment, Houston, Texas.jpg|Cotton ready for shipment, Houston, Texas (postcard, 1911) </gallery>

== See also ==

* Cotton gin * Cotton * Spinning (textiles) *Wool bale

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Cotton Category:Cotton gin Category:Cotton production