Skip to content

American vs desi vs Egyptian cotton: Gossypium species in India Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source ↗

American vs desi vs Egyptian cotton: Gossypium species in India

India is the only country that commercially cultivates all four cultivated Gossypium species. Each species occupies a distinct ecological niche, staple-length segment and market. Modern Bt hybrids (Bt Cotton Bg Ii) are based on tetraploid G. hirsutum, but the older diploid desi species and the long-staple G. barbadense remain agronomically and commercially important.

Species at a glance

  • Gossypium hirsutum (American / upland cotton): tetraploid (2n=52), origin Central America, the dominant species in India and worldwide. Almost all Bt cotton hybrids — Mahyco, Rasi, Nuziveedu, Ankur, Ajeet — are G. hirsutum. Staple length 22-32 mm (medium to long).
  • Gossypium arboreum (desi cotton): diploid (2n=26), native to South Asia. Drought-hardy, sucking-pest-tolerant and resistant to cotton leaf curl virus (Cotton Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Clcuv) and fusarium wilt (Cotton Fusarium Wilt Resistance). Coarser short staple (12-25 mm). Historically dominated central and south India; CICR varieties PA-08, PA-528 and PA-740 are modern compact desi types suited to HDPS.
  • Gossypium herbaceum (desi cotton): also diploid, native to Africa-Arabia. Mainly grown in Saurashtra (Wagad cotton) and parts of Karnataka. Short, coarse staple used in surgical cotton.
  • Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian / Sea Island / extra-long staple): tetraploid, native to South America. Extra-long staple (33-44 mm) suitable for fine count yarns. Indian ELS cottons such as Suvin and DCH-32 are G. barbadense × G. hirsutum derivatives — see Extra Long Staple Cotton India.

Why India still grows desi cotton

The two diploid desi species together cover roughly 5-8% of Indian cotton area, concentrated in central and north-west India. Their value lies in inherent pest and disease tolerance — they sidestep the pink-bollworm Bt-resistance problem (Pink Bollworm), are tolerant of jassid and whitefly, and resist CLCuV and fusarium wilt. Surgical absorbent cotton, lamp-wick yarn, hosiery short-staple blends and organic cotton programmes draw heavily on desi.

Implications for breeding and policy

CCI procurement (Cotton Cci Msp Procurement National) operates two MSP rates — one for medium-staple hirsutum and a higher rate for long-staple. ICAR-CICR is pursuing compact, machine-pickable desi varieties under HDPS (High Density Planting System Cotton) as an alternative path that avoids the Bt-trait dependency.

See also Bt Cotton Bg Ii, Extra Long Staple Cotton India, Cotton Zone System Cicr, Cotton Fusarium Wilt Resistance, Cotton Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Clcuv.

Sources

  1. Cotton crop status. ICAR-CICR Nagpur.
  2. AICRP Cotton. ICAR All-India Coordinated Research Project on Cotton.
  3. Extra Long Staple Cotton. Central Silk Board / CSB.