Reducing the impact of weather, insects and microbes on cotton colour

Cotton colour an important buying factor. Discoloured cotton attracts penalties that reduce its value, but the relationship between lint colour and fibre quality degradation is unknown.

This project investigates how honeydew and sooty mould fungi affect quality, and how fungicides minimise lint discolour from dark fungal spores. It follows samples through to spinning and weaving to detect effects of colour grade deterioration on textile processing performance, and whether HVI data alone is sufficient to predict fibre quality defects.