Report advises how to keep plastic out of cotton production
Cotton Incorporated, the non-profit organisation funded by US cotton growers, has published a report making recommendations on how to eliminate plastic contamination from the country’s cotton.
The report, “Prevention of Plastic Contamination when Handling Cotton Modules”, discusses the importance of protecting the US’s reputation for producing contamination-free cotton. In recent years, USDA classing offices have detected plastic in samples thought to have originated from round module wrap.
Identifying potential problem spots, the report provides ways growers, module handlers and ginners can mitigate the introduction of plastic.
For example, according to the report, while transporting from the field, the study observed failures to fully raise the module above cotton stalks and damage that occurred from placing modules on top of cotton stalks. Other cases showed problems at the module feeder introducing plastic to the gin.
The recommendations were developed based on video footage collected from cameras on module handers in the field and gin yard and at the module feeder at four US locations with diverse production (picker and stripper) and environmental conditions (humid to arid).
The results of the report are preliminary, authors said, and monitoring will continue throughout the 2020 season.
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