| Cotton quality is a fundamental element in price determination because quality heterogeneity is so prevalent in cotton and combinations of quality attributes have a known effect on its value in manufacturing textile products (Ethridge, Hudson, and Misra, 2005). The fiber is most often spun into thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today (Merriam and Webster, 2006). Cotton fiber is made up of different attributes whose values together determine its use value and market value. Official grading standards recognize eight attributes - fiber length, fiber length uniformity, fiber strength, micronaire, color, trash, preparation, and extraneous material (USDA, 1993). |
