**1. Introduction**

Agriculture continues to be the basic sector to meet the primary needs of human beings. It is also of very importance regarding the economic development of the countries and raising the general welfare level. This sector has been considered the cornerstone of the economy for many years, yet the developments in the industrial sector in recent years have begun to be interpreted as the shift of importance from agriculture to industry. This interpretation can be acceptable, especially for technology-producing developed countries, but it is open to discussion for developing countries like Türkiye.

Considering its high agricultural production potential, and a significant share of industry based on agriculture, the importance of this sector becomes more obvious for Türkiye. Human nutrition, food security, resource transfer to industry and income distribution features of agriculture come to the fore to consider it as a strategic sector [1].

The branches of industry that process agricultural raw materials in Türkiye consist of two main groups, the food and the textile industries, which are included in the manufacturing industry. Sugar, vegetable oil, flour, canned food, milk, meat and

beverage industries are the sub-categories of the food industry as cotton thread, wool yarn, cotton and woolen weaving are the sub-branches of the textile industry [2].

The increasing world population has affected the food sector as well as many other sectors. The ever-increasing needs due to the change in living standards have also led to an increase in interest in the textile sector. The fact that cotton is the basic raw material of the textile industry in Türkiye as in the world, increases the importance of this crop day by day.

Parallel to an upward shift of public awareness on artificial fiber pollution and its damage to the environment due to their long lifecycle in nature; especially in recent years, the rise in demand for cotton, the largest natural fiber source, has caused the market share of cotton to increase again.

Cotton is one of the main agricultural crops widely grown and traded in the world [3]. Plant height varies between 80 and 120 cm and boll branches are separate, it is a tap-rooted plant with a long flowering and harvesting period It is an annual crop with an effective root zone depth of 90 cm and can be grown under warm climate and irrigated conditions [4].

Mainly four cotton species (*Gossypium hirsutum*, *Gossypium barbadense*, *Gossypium arboretum* and *Gossypium herbaceum*) are grown worldwide. *Gossypium hirsutum*, also called upland cotton, makes up of more than 90% of the global cotton production and 99% of the Turkish cotton production. Upland cotton (*Gossypium hirsutum* L.) have a high yield potential, a medium-long vegetation period with a ginning percentage of about 39% [5].

Due to the deterministic effect of climate cotton is grown generally in the Southeastern Anatolia, Aegean and Mediterranean regions in Türkiye. The lint percentage of seed cotton (lint plus seed) is about 35–40% and the rest is the seed. The oil content of cottonseeds varies between 19 and 28%. Although cotton is generally grown for its fiber, cottonseed oil ranks fourth after soybean, rapeseed and sunflower in terms of world oil production. It also ranks second after soy as a plant protein source [6].

The price elasticity of demand for cotton is lower than that of other industrial crops due to its wide range and frequent use.

With the advancing technology, cotton fiber is used in textile industry, linter is used in paper, furniture and cellulose industry, seed is used in seed oil industry, and pulp is used in feed industry [7]. For that reason, it not only has a high commercial value but also has a high employment potential globally because it has a number of byproducts suitable for creating added value [8]. Moreover, it is stated that it can be an alternative to petroleum in the long run due to increases in its use in biodiesel production in recent years. Despite its various uses cotton remains a fiber crop in general. According to 2018 data, cotton constitutes 81% of world fiber production [9].
