Hog Round Marketing, Seed Quality, and Government Policy: Institutional Change in U.S. Cotton Production, 1920-1960

Between 1928 and 1960 U.S. cotton production witnessed a revolution with average yields roughly tripling while the quality of the crop increased significantly. This paper analyzes the key institutional and scientific developments that facilitated the revolution in biological technologies, pointing to the importance of two government programs -- the one-variety community movement and the Smith-Doxey Act -- as catalysts for change. The story displays two phenomena of interest in light of the recent literature: 1. an important real-world example of the workings of Akerlof's lemons model and 2. a case where inventors, during an early phase of the product cycle, actually encouraged consumers to copy and disseminate their intellectual property.

Hog Round Marketing, Seed Quality, and Government Policy: Institutional Change in U.S. Cotton Production, 1920-60.

Between 1928 and 1960 U.S. cotton production witnessed a revolution with average yields increasing roughly threefold. In addition, the average staple length of the U.S. crop increased significantly, reversing a long-run downward trend in cotton quality. Underlying these accomplishments were major innovations in cotton marketing, wholesale changes in the varieties grown, and the emergence of a vibrant commercial seed industry. This paper analyzes the key institutional and scientific developments underlying this revolution in biological technologies, pointing to the importance of two government programs—the one-variety community crusade and the Smith-Doxey Act— as catalysts for change.

Evaluation of a Mechanical Cottonseed Delinter for Breeders

Delinting cottonseed, which is removing short fuzz fiber called linters to polish seed for mechanical planting, is a practice commonly used by cotton breeding programs. The predominant method of delinting cottonseed is acid delinting, which can be dangerous and produces toxic effluent. Disposal of this effluent is costly. Current research on mechanical delinting proposes an alternative to acid delinting. A prototype for commercial delinting developed by USDA-ARS Cotton Production and Processing Research Unit in Lubbock, TX, was used to explore advantages and disadvantages of using a mechanical delinter for small breeder samples. Delinting time, seed carryover between samples, incidence of seed-borne disease, seed size effects and sample size effects were evaluated and compared to acid delinting. Different cantilever brush configurations were tested for efficiencies by processing separate small samples. Seed quality and germination for mechanical and acid delinted samples was compared. Modifications to the cantilever brush system and to the drum decreased delinting time and increased ease of sample processing compared to the original prototype. Small improvements in reduction of seed carryover and in seed-borne disease incidence were observed, but these areas still need improvement. Mechanically delinted seed averaged 87 percent germination using a wet towel method compared to 89 percent for acid delinted seed in 2016. In 2017, mechanically delinted seed planted in a field environment averaged 85 percent germination when a packed drum treatment was used and 76 percent germination when a finished drum treatment was used

Model reference adaptive control system for moisture regulation in cotton ginning

Moisture content (mc) within the cotton fibre is an important aspect for all stages of the ginning process. However due to the process dynamics, mc is currently being controlled by regulating the water and air temperatures from the Humidifiers. Human intervention and lack of consistence on set-points determination has resulted in inconsistent mc during humidification. This procedure requires a control system which will be able to adjust the process set-points automatically by eliminating the need for human intervention. In this paper a robust Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) system for a Samuel Jackson Humidifier is presented. This system improves upon the existing system by creating a closed loop controller with parameters that can be updated to change the response from reference model. The control parameters are then updated based on this error thus the parameters converge to ideal values that cause the plant response to match the response of the reference model

Effects of Genetic Traits on Nonlint Trash and Nep Content of Cotton, Gossypium Hirsutum L.

Gin induced lint quality problems (neps, short fiber content, seed-coat fragments and reductions in lint turnout) need the consideration of the entire cotton production system. Genetic traits could help reduce seed-cotton trash and/or improve cleanability at the gin. Twelve near-isolines involving four leaf shapes (okra, semi-okra, super-okra and normal), two bract types (frego and normal), two leaf-pubescence levels (semi-smoothness and hairy) and certain trait combinations were grown during 1985, 1986, and 1987 at three locations in Louisiana (Alexandria, Bossier City, and St. Joseph), and harvested with a spindle-picker. Seedcotton samples were ginned on a cut-down version of a commercial gin under a controlled environment, constant feeding rates, and with zero, one, and two lint cleaners. An inclined sieve inside the trash chamber of the Shirley Analyzer allowed the separation of motes and leafy material. Nep content was determined by the U.S.D.A. method. The use of the inclined sieve inside the Shirley Analyzer helped clarify the behavior of the traits by separating the leafy material and motes components in the non-lint visible fraction. Semi-smooth isolines (t\sb3) were associated with reduced number of motes at the wagon (22% reduction compared with the normal pubescent counterpart) and with improved seed-cotton small-leaf cleanability (+12%). In addition to decreasing the small-leaf percentage in the feeder apron by 20%, super-okra leaf shape reduced the number of motes (15%); both traits (semi-smoothness and super-okra) ended with the same level of leafy material and grade index after one lint cleaner as did the check after two lint cleaners. The open-canopy and frego bract cottons had more small-leaf wagon trash than the check (21 and 12%, respectively), but the differences disappeared at the gin stand. Frego bract isolines had lower levels of leafy material in the lint than their normal bract counterparts at any level of lint cleaning. None of the traits affected the number of neps at zero, one, or two stages of lint cleaning; micronaire and fiber length had the highest direct effects on the nep counts according to the path analysis, but did not explain the majority of the variability found in the data

Using Atmospheric Cold Plasma to Decontaminate A. flavus in Cottonseed Meal

Due to the continuous increase in global population, there is a demand for innovative and sustainable technology to improve food and nutritional security. Contamination, spoilage, and safety issues are caused by pathogenic microbes including bacteria, yeast, and mold. Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic fungus that colonizes various field crops including legumes, cereal grains, tree nuts, and oilseeds. Infection by this fungus can occur pre-harvest or during post-harvest operations and storage of cottonseed and cottonseed meal. In addition to infecting of the cottonseed there is the subsequent production of mycotoxins which are toxic secondary metabolites, such as aflatoxins. Under ideal environmental conditions, warm temperatures and high humidity, A. flavus can produce large amounts of aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are not typically destroyed by the post-harvest processes of contaminated cottonseed. Different methods have been used to remove aflatoxins from cottonseed meal, including biological controls, electromagnetic radiation, ozone fumigation, chemical control agents, and thermal treatments. However, many of these treatments negatively affect the nutritional content, flavor, color, texture. There is a need for alternative removal methods agricultural to better preserve quality and nutritional content of cottonseed meal. Through this work we were able to identify physical properties of fuzzy cottonseed inoculated with Aspergillus flavus and understand the effects of microbial load and moisture content. This can lead to future sort measures for cottonseed during the post-harvest process. The results showed that sorting cottonseed based on physical appearance, dimensions, projected area, surface area, and density can help identify potentially infected seeds. This work also measured the increase in aflatoxin levels throughout the post-harvest process of whole seed to cottonseed meal. The results showed that the difference in acid-delinting and the use of the mechanical dehuller can affect the microbial load on cottonseed meal. The higher microbial load was associated with lower protein content and higher fat acidity levels. Lastly, the research identifies treatment parameters to maintain nutritional components of cottonseed meal. The use of Atmospheric Cold Plasma (ACP) to treat Aspergillus flavus infected cottonseed meal which maintained the cottonseed fat acidity levels, protein levels, and water activity levels. Overall, this research can be used in the post-harvest process for sorting, measuring aflatoxin levels, and possible treatment using ACP