Use of SOM to Study Cotton Growing and Spinning

Abstract

From time immemorial cotton has maintained its position as one of the most important textile fibers. The world cotton production has continued to hit new records year after year due to the increase in cotton demand. The demand for cotton has also maintained a steady rise. This has resulted in increasing cotton prices (ICAC, 2004). Globally, cotton growing and processing has remained one of the profitable industries, which employs large sections of the populations and also earns foreign exchange. The Government of Kenya adopted Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1996 on the Industrial transformation of Kenya to become a Newly Industrialized Country by the year 2020, where the Textile Industry was identified as one of the key industries which could spur industrial growth (Kenyan Government, 1996a; Kenyan Government 1996b). This was due to the fact that the Kenyan textile industry grew rapidly in the 1970's and 1980's. By 1983, the textile industry was the second largest manufacturing industry after food processing.