Cotton Lint is a mass of soft fibers surrounding the seeds of unginned cotton, small pieces of fluff from cotton. Hairs develop within the boll, which increases considerably in size. Lint is the seed hair, or cotton fibre, reaching a maximum length of about 6 cm (2.5 inches) in long-fibre varieties
The process of separating the seeds, seed hulls and other small objects from the fibers of cotton.
The Ginning Process
After cotton is harvested, it is either stored on the edge of the field in big mounds called modules or loaded onto trailers and shipped to the gin in cotton trailers. If the cotton is tightly packed in modules, the modules are put in trucks called module movers. The cotton is then taken to the gin. At the gin, powerful pipes suck the cotton into the building and through cleaning machines that remove the trash, like burs, dirt, stems, and leaf material from the cotton. Then, it goes to the gin stand where circular saws with small, sharp teeth pull the fiber from the seed. If there is too much moisture in the cotton, it is also dried in the gin stand.
From the gin, fiber and seed go different ways. The ginned fiber, now called lint, is pressed together and made into great big bales. About thirty-five percent of each pound of cotton is lint, and the rest is seed. The farmer gets paid for both the lint and the seed. To determine the value of the cotton, samples are taken from each bale and classed according to fiber length, strength, width, color, and cleanliness. Once the cotton is baled it is sent to cotton merchants.
The cotton industry today is well on its way to fulfilling one of the most important goals all industries strive for-Sustainability. The cotton regulatory bodies are involved in ongoing efforts to keep the industry informed on sustainable start to finish processing to meet present demand; it must not compromise the demand of the future generations. The various regulatory bodies are working tirelessly at developing standards and regulations which influence international cotton business.
Cottonseed – seed of cotton plants; source of cottonseed oil
This is the seed of the cotton plant. It is ginned seed cotton and the source of cottonseed oil. It can also be sold to a mill where it is crushed and the oil is extracted (CottonSeed Oil), or the seed can be sold to a De-linter where the fuzzy fibers are removed in a process much like ginning. The cleaned seed that remains after delinting is then processed for use in the planting of next year’s crop.
Nigeria is known for its vast agricultural fertile soil which supports various growth of cash crops and one of them to mention among the numerous but this which is cotton. The geography of the South-West and North central supports the growth of the best cotton ever produced in Nigeria. Cotton grown in these areas have been rated the best and have over the years given rise to good quality yarn for better fabric production in the textile industry.