Of the 33.5 million hectares of cotton grown in 2001/2002 approximately 70% were planted in developing countries and only 30 % in industrial countries. The top 10 cotton countries, by area, (listed in Table 1) accounted for 80 % of the planted area of global cotton, with the balance of 20 % grown in the other 55 countries. Of the top 5 countries that planted more than 1 million hectares each (for a total of 23.5 million or 70 % of global total), India has by far the largest area (8.7 million hectares), followed by the USA (5.6 million hectares), China (4.8 million hectares) Pakistan (3.1 million hectares), and Uzbekistan (1.5 million hectares). It is noteworthy that of the 70 % of global cotton planted in countries of the South, three Asian countries predominate, India, China and Pakistan, that together plant 50 % of global cotton. Six out of the ten top cotton-growing countries, by area, are from the South, three from Asia (India, China and Pakistan), two from Africa (Mali and Benin), and Brazil in Latin America. The other four countries comprise USA, with the second largest area (5.6 million hectares), the two Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) states of Uzbekistan (1.5 million hectares) and Turkmenistan (0.6 million hectares), and Turkey (0.6 million hectares) in Western Asia.

Global production of cotton (lint) has increased from 9.8 million tons in 1960/61 to 21.2 million tons in 2001/02 – an increase of 116 % over the last 40 years. The top 10 cotton countries, in terms of total production in 2001 are listed in Table 2, along with corresponding yield data. Collectively they produce 85 % of global cotton production. As for the previous data, based on cotton area, six of the top 10 cotton producing countries are developing countries, China (5.3 million metric tons (MT)), India (2.5 million MT) Pakistan (1.8 million MT), Brazil (0.7. million MT), Syria (0.3 million MT) and Egypt (0.3 million MT).

China with a high yield of 1,103 kg of lint per hectare is the top lint producer globally with a production of 5.3 million tons followed by the US (4.4 million MT). Both India and Pakistan have significantly lower production than China. Despite having large areas of cotton, they suffer from low yields, 287 kg/hectare and 593 kg/hectare respectively, whereas Syria, Egypt and Brazil have significantly higher yields of 1,303 kg/hectare, 994 kg/hectare and 999 kg/hectare respectively. Australia has by far the highest world yield of lint at 1,658 kg/hectare followed by Syria (1,303 kg/hectare) and China (1,103 kg/hectare) (ICAC 2002a). Thus, in general, developing countries like China, with a large area of cotton and high yields excel in terms of total production, whereas countries like India and Pakistan with large areas suffer in terms of total production because of low yields. India has the lowest yield of the top 10 producers at 287 kg/hectare, which is less than half of the world average yield of 635 kg/hectare. Brazil, Syria and Egypt compete well in terms of total production because of high yields, whereas African countries such as Mali and Benin which grow approximately 500,000 hectares of cotton do not excel in total production because of low yields of 464 and 420 kg/hectare, respectively. In summary, the major constraint to increased production in many developing countries is low productivity, due to abiotic, biotic and other constraints, with insect pests, particularly lepidopteran pests, featuring as a prevalent and significant constraint in all developing countries.