Question

Describe the process or stages in Ginning of Cotton.

Answer 1

After harvesting, the cotton crop passes through the following process:

1. After the cotton has been picked, either by machine or by hand, it is ginned. Ginning is the process used to separate the fibres or lint from the cotton seeds and the short fibres or linters which adhere to them.
2. In the ginning process, the cotton first goes through dryers to reduce moisture content and then through cleaning equipment to remove foreign matter.
3. The cotton is then air conveyed to gin stands where its circular saws pull the lint through closely spaced ribs that prevent the seed from passing through.
4. The lint is removed from the saw teeth by rotating brushes and then compressed into bales.
5. The lint (fibres) are washed and then combed to form a rope-like mass of fibres known as sliver.
6. The sliver is fed to the spindles and spun to make cotton yarn.
7. The seeds are crushed to yield oil, the residue being used as cattle fodder.