The State of the Kenyan Cotton Growing Industry

From the early 1960s to late 1980s, the Kenyan cotton growing industry played a vital role in the Kenyan economy in terms of provision of employment and creation of wealth in the rural areas. It also played a central role in the textile industry which was thriving during the above mentioned period. Over the years, cotton production in Kenya has fallen steadily, such that by the year 2000, the country experienced a severe cotton fiber deficit. This study was undertaken to investigate the trend of the cotton growing industry in Kenya. Selected aspects of the industry like cost of production, cotton seed distribution, the operation of cotton gins and the quality of cotton lint were considered. Kohonen Self Organizing Maps （SOM） and K-means clustering techniques were used in data analysis. The results of this study show that Kenyan cotton farmers produced seed cotton at a break-even price of US $ 0.31 per kilogram, while the price offered was US $ 0.29 per kilogram.     

Study of Rotor Spun Basofil/Cotton Blended Yarn Quality Characteristics during Optimisation of Processing Parameters

Yarn quality characteristics are affected by processing parameters. A 36 tex rotor spun yarn of 50/50 Basofil/ cotton （B/C） blended yarn was spun, and the spinning process optimised for rotor speed, opening roller speed and twist factor. Selected yarn characteristics were studied during the optimization process. During the optimizations process yarn elongation and hairiness reduced with increase in rotor speed. Tenacity increased with increase of rotor speed. The increase in TF caused tenacity and CV of count to increase up to a peak and then started to decrease with further increase of TF.While TF caused an increase in yarn hairiness, elongation decreased to a minimum level and then started to increase with further increase of TF. CV of count and hairiness increased with increase in opening roller speed, but tenacity and elongation decreased with increase in opening roller speed. The optimization process yielded the optimum levels for rotor speed, opening roller speed and twist factor （TF） as 45,000 rpm, 6,500 rpm and 450 respectively. As per uster Standards the optimum yam showed good results for CV of count, CV of tenacity and thin places/km.