Abapa begins analysis of fiber quality from the 2019/2020 harvest

With the start of the cotton harvest, demand for analyzes resumes from producers, focusing on the quality of the fiber. Given the forecast production of 592.269 thousand tons of fiber in western Bahia this harvest, and the market's demand for classification, the Fiber Analysis Center of the Bahian Association of Cotton Producers (Abapa) is preparing for a new cycle with the goal of reaching, for the second consecutive year, the mark of three million samples classified in a single harvest.

Since the beginning of June, the laboratory, located in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, in western Bahia, has analyzed around 80 thousand samples using High Volume Instrument (HVI) and visual classification equipment, which attest to parameters such as length, resistance, uniformity, and reliability, which allows the fiber to be better disposed of by the textile industries.

Intensified harvest

“From now on, with the intensification of harvesting in the field, the rhythm of operation of the laboratory becomes intense, with the dedication of the work of 106 professionals who take turns during the three shifts, 24 hours a day, uninterruptedly to ensure that the results of the analyzes reach the producers to prove the quality of the fiber to buyers”, says the laboratory manager, Sérgio Brentano.

From the moment producers begin harvesting and processing the cotton, separating the feather from the seed, a sample with the traced batch is sent for analysis in the laboratory. With the last harvest's record production of around 626 tons of feather, the Abapa Fiber Analysis Center recorded, for the first time, in a single harvest, a total of 3.095.877 analyses using High Volume Instrument equipment ( HVI) and 331.535 thousand visual classification.  

Fiber quality

Considered the largest in Latin America, Abapa's laboratory is part of the Standard Brasil HVI (SBRHVI) program, which standardizes feather classification in the country, providing security and credibility for Brazilian cotton. The president of Abapa, Júlio Cézar Busato, explains that the classification of the feather carried out in the laboratory is essential to prove the quality of the cotton produced in Western Bahia and guarantee better destination and price of the feather in the domestic and foreign markets.

“We have internationally recognized fiber quality, guaranteed by the rainfall regime, soil and the technology applied in harvesting and processing. This is a difference taken into consideration when buying and selling the feather”, he explains. Brazil's second largest cotton producer, around 60% of Bahia's lint is sold to the national textile industry, and the rest to Asian markets, with the biggest buyers being China, Bangladesh, Turkey and Vietnam.