Cotton Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.4, 173-183 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/cgg 174 significant impact on carbon emissions during the planting phase. In particular, fertilization and irrigation are key causes of increasing emissions (Xiao et al., 2024). In addition, emissions continue to be generated during the post-harvest processing phase of cotton, such as ginning, spinning, dyeing, and post-processing. Dyeing, in particular, accounts for a large portion of the carbon footprint of the entire textile process (Amin et al., 2021). Although cotton can absorb some carbon dioxide through photosynthesis while growing, this absorption is usually not enough to offset emissions from fertilization and electricity use (Singh et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2024). 2.2 Comparative carbon intensity of conventional vs. sustainable practices Whether cotton yield is high or not is sometimes directly proportional to the amount of input. Especially in the traditional planting model, applying more fertilizer and using more water can indeed maintain the yield, but the cost is also obvious. Data from many cotton-growing areas in China show that carbon emissions per unit area can fluctuate between 2 958 and 6 220 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare (Yang et al., 2025), with a significant difference. The key lies in the management method and input intensity. Of course, it does not mean that low input will definitely lead to low yield. Some areas have begun to try more energy-saving planting methods, such as reducing the amount of chemical fertilizers, improving irrigation systems, or changing their thinking and using cover crops to help the soil "recover blood" (Figure 1). For example, using February orchids to cover the surface and then appropriately reducing nitrogen fertilizers is said to be able to reduce carbon emissions to less than a quarter of the original. Specifically, some studies say that it has dropped by 76% (Wang et al., 2021). To give another example, traditionally cotton is followed by wheat, which is a common rotation method. However, if cotton and legumes are intercropped and transplanted, carbon emissions can be reduced by almost half (Rajpoot et al., 2021). Don't underestimate this adjustment. The amount of carbon saved is very considerable when it is promoted on a large scale. As for the subsequent processing links, such as dyeing, there is actually room for emission reduction. Especially the new non-water dyeing method, which is not only environmentally friendly, but also much more energy-efficient than traditional dyeing. Some studies have shown that this type of process can reduce the carbon footprint of the textile process by about half (Li et al., 2024). Therefore, from the field to the factory, every link can be optimized. Figure 1 Cotton field before February orchid turning over (Adopted from Wang et al., 2021)
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