The drought that hit Argentina's 1996-97 cotton crop earlier this year, has stripped the country of an output of as much as 100,000 tonnes (t) of lint, said a leading Argentine cotton exporter. With the harvesting about 40 per cent complete, the extent of the damage to the cotton crop this year has been estimated. The final lint output is likely to total about 300,000 t, according to Rafael Almiroty of Almiroty Compania.

Experts say that due to late sowing, the plants were still very small when the drought struck and hence they became more vulnerable to heat stress. Almiroty warned that more damage could be in store for the cotton aitop in the event of an early frost.

This disappointUg output means that Argentina will export only about 200,000 t of cotton lint, with the rest feeding its anaemic textile industry. Most of the lint has been already sold off to Brazil in advance, said Almiroty.

Argentine farmers have been investing heavily in cotton farming in recent years, and now the vast majority of crops is harvested by machine instead of being picked by hand.