Technological advancements in cotton agronomy: a review and prospects

Cotton is the most ubiquitous and profitable fiber with diverse industrial and domestic applications. Grown in over 100 countries, it has a global market value of about USD\begin{document}${\$} $\end{document}40 billion and employs over 350 million people from fields to textile mills, contributing about 7% of total labor-force recruitment in developing economies. Cotton has an indeterminate growth habit and an extensive tap root system affected by soil physicochemical and environmental conditions. There is a consensus among experts that conventional cotton cultivation still has a long way to go to attain sustainability, which is essential if cotton is to maintain its competitive edge over other natural and synthetic fibers like hemp, polyesters, and rayon. Despite several efforts already committed to growing cotton sustainably, sustainability has eluded cotton cultivation globally because of the intense farm input needs (freshwater, pesticides, and heavy-duty equipment), especially in developing economies. Some of the technological advancements towards achieving the goal of sustainable cotton cultivation include the development of new varieties, improved irrigation and mulching and precision agriculture techniques, application of remote sensing and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) combined with image processing, and the introduction of autonomous and multi-purpose robotic platforms for growing and harvesting cotton. This review attempts to evaluate the successes already achieved by stakeholders in moving cotton towards sustainable production and identify areas where efforts are still needed to reach sustainable production and improved profitability goals for cotton with projections for future research directions.