Supima Association of America

Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton has been developed in the Southwest United States since the mid 1900's, yet it wasn't until mid-century that much consideration was given to the new cotton. The genuine leap forward came in 1951 when a seed was created and presented that delivered an ELS cotton with prevalent fiber properties, shine and silkiness...as well as a strangely high return. Consequent assortment discharges in the 1970's, 80s and 90's incorporated Pima S-5, S-6 and S-7, all of which bragged higher yields and better turning qualities.

The name "Pima" was connected to ELS cotton (already called American-Egyptian) being created in the U.S. leave southwest in the mid 1900's. The name was given out of appreciation for the Pima Indians why should raising the ELS cotton on the USDA test ranch in Sacaton, Arizona.

Albeit South America is the focal point of birthplace of the species gossypium barbadense, to which ELS cottons have a place, these cottons were photoperiodic, and the fiber was medium staple long and coarse, as exemplified by the current Tanguis cottons of Peru. The starting point of genuine additional long staple cottons can be followed to the acquaintance of Sea Island with the U.S. in 1786 from seed got from the Bahama Islands, a territory from which Columbus is rumored to have taken Sea Island tests to Europe in 1492. The g. barbadense cotton that initially showed up in the U.S. in 1786, where it got to be known as Sea Island, had strikingly diverse fiber properties from the local g. barbadense of South America.v The careful beginning of Sea Island cotton is obscure, however geneticists recommend that the most sensible theory to clarify the ELS sort was that it created by transgressive legacy through the introgression of length qualities from outside the species, conceivably from g. hirsutum.

The primary effective product of Sea Island was delivered by William Elliott on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in 1790. Despite the fact that generation of this ELS cotton later ventured into the inside locales of Georgia and Florida, the best Sea Island cottons were developed on the Sea Islands; James, Edisto, John and Wadmalaw.vii The yield proceeded until 1920, when a serious boll weevil invasion had made it unrewarding. Endeavors to resuscitate the Sea Island industry in the U.S. in the 1930's fizzled.The advancement of ELS cottons started in 1825 when Sea Island cotton was carried into Egypt and crossed with tree cotton named Jumel. The intersection of Jumel and Sea Island brought about the advancement of Ashmouni in around 1860. The following a few Egyptian cultivars were determined either by selecting inside Ashmouni or from crosses of Ashmouni and Sea Island. The fruitful usage of inbreeding between the years 1910 and 1940 prompted the slow advancement of Egyptian cottons that could rival the nature of Sea Island.viii (It's critical to note here that amid the improvement of these later cottons, no germplasm from outside Egypt was utilized.)