Cotton is from the mallow family and its homeland is India.
Archaeological evidence shows that different types of cotton were grown and used in clothing between 6,000 and 7,000 years ago in India and South America independently. Cotton came to the ancient world from the Harappan civilization of India. It passed from Mesopotamia to Ancient Egypt.
Cotton has a long history in Turkey that goes back to 330 BC. Its main development was in the 11th century, during the time of the Seljuk Turks, and in the 14th century, during the Ottoman Turks.
Cotton has been cultivated in Çukurova since the early ages and the production remained at a level that meets local needs until the 1820s. As a result of the revolt of the Egyptian Governor Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Pasha, the administration of Adana and its nearby regions passed to Mehmet Ali Pasha between 1833-1840. The local people of Egypt that was brought with by Mehmet Ali Pasha, played an active role in cotton cultivation by doing intensive agricultural activities in Çukurova. In accordance with the London Treaty of 1841, the management of the region was taken over by the Ottoman Empire. After the region was governed by the Ottoman Empire, the most important development was the drying of the swamps and the cadastre application that enabled the increase of the cotton planted land.
Before the civil war in 1861, the USA was the biggest cotton producer in the world. Cotton production decreased and prices increased during and post period of the war. At that times England was the most important cotton buyer thanks to realizing the Industrial Revolution, then England started to search for new suppliers. Çukurova had become one of the regions that will meet the cotton demand of England. The Ottoman Empire provided various incentives to the farmers in Çukurova in order to increase cotton production in 1862. In this context, tax breaks and cotton seeds were provided to the farmers for a certain period of time.
After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, cotton got a share of the serious importance given to agriculture.
World War I and following years of occupation brought cotton production and trade to a standstill in Çukurova. Along with the Montrose Armistice at 30 October 1918 signed between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman State, France occupied Çukurova. By force of decisive struggle by people against the occupation, France had to step back from Tarsus on 27 December 1921, Mersin on 3 January 1922, and Adana on 5 January 1922; and handed over the region to the government of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, launched a new era in cotton farming along with the establishment of the republic. Atatürk made great efforts to establish and realize a national weaving industry. At the first stage, different kinds of cotton seeds were brought to the country and tested in production farms, and then the cultivation of Akala and Cleveland species with high yields, which originated in the USA, was tried to be expanded. The cotton production farms established in Adana in 1926 fulfilled an important function in the dissemination of Akala and Cleveland species by breeding cotton. In addition, the Cotton Affairs Directorate was established in order to carry out the necessary studies on cotton improvement, increasing the cultivation areas and reducing the cost prices. By means of the cotton production capacity of Çukurova and the logistics capability of Mersin Port, the region had carried its great potential to the republic period.