Growing Cotton in Space Helps Identify Production Practices

By: Laurie Bedord

With about 15 million bales produced in 2020, cotton is considered America’s No. 1 value-added crop. However, it requires access to natural resources such as water that are increasingly at risk.

By sending 48 cotton seeds to the International Space Station, botanists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hope to generate ideas for sustainable cotton production.