Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

There appears to be a scarcity of reliable information readily available to the researchers and planners, in usable form, on the cotton crop, cropping conditions, ecological requirements, agronomic practices and socioeconomic factors. In the present paper, the author has attempted to pull together the available data on the crop in the hope of alleviating some of these problems. The paper examines the reasons for lack of smooth progress in cotton production in the Lake Victoria Basin. It deals with origins of cotton and research development; morphology and development of the crop cultivated commercial varieties of cotton; uses of the crop; environmental requirements; a historical perspective of cotton development, patterns of cotton production, and recent cotton production problems. Some maps and tables are provided wherever they serve to illustrate a problem