4) Cotton fiber development happen in four stages. They are differentiation, Initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall deposition and …show more content…
In cotton picker, it harvests only the open bolls. So the average foreign materials (burrs, sticks, fine trash, and barks) available in harvested cotton is low. But the stripper harvests the entire cotton bolls with the leaves, branches with undesirable materials. So the initial foreign material content is high. As in picker harvesting cotton, the average foreign material is low, the additional cleaning is less. So the ginning cost is lower compared to stripper harvesting cotton. So the picker harvested cotton have lower trash content and lower leaf grade than the stripper harvested cotton. Picker harvested cotton have improved fiber properties such as better micronaire, high length uniformity and better color grade than in stripper harvesting cotton. Stripper harvested cotton fibers have increased shorter fibers than picker harvested cotton fibers. So the yarn that is manufactured from picker harvested cotton have higher quality (less hairiness) than the yarn that are formed from stripper harvested cotton. Trash contains more moisture. So stripper-harvested cotton have greater potential for fiber degradation than the picker harvested cotton. In picker harvesting, cotton can be harvested sooner compared to stripper as desiccation is not needed. In picker, it can start harvesting earlier and can stay longer as long as the lint is dry. So the productivity Bales/hour) is higher than the stripper in high yielding …show more content…
Picking efficiency can be lower in bushy plants which have dense fruiting patterns as all the spindles may not contact with bolls. Picker harvests only well opened bolls while the stripper harvests well opened, cracked and unopen bolls. If the plant expose to a cool/ rainy weather during the growing season, it prolongs the maturity. So the harvesting has to be done in cool conditions where the bolls are poorly exerted. In this case picker harvesting is not possible. Picker harvesting leaves cotton seed in the field. So there is an income loss. The seeds in the field can lead to increase volunteer cotton challenges in the next crop. Pickers have high initial cost and the maintenance cost. So the harvesting cost is higher which makes not all the farmers can afford on picking harvesting. As picking harvesting needs less labor, it reduces the job opportunities