Where can I grow cotton?
Gossypium hirsutum · Fiber · Annual
Cotton is a great fit (80+) on 30.9 million sq mi of land in 199 countries, 38% of it only with irrigation. The most well-suited land is in Pará, Brazil, Amazonas, Brazil and Minas Gerais, Brazil. Where it can't grow, it's usually growing season too cool (79%) and no month is both frost-safe and warm enough to sow (20%).Cotton is a great fit (80+) on 79.9 million km² of land in 199 countries, 38% of it only with irrigation. The most well-suited land is in Pará, Brazil, Amazonas, Brazil and Minas Gerais, Brazil. Where it can't grow, it's usually growing season too cool (79%) and no month is both frost-safe and warm enough to sow (20%).
- Great fit (80+)
- 30.9M sq mi79.9M km²
- 55% of land
- Worth a try (50–79)
- 1.2M sq mi3.2M km²
- 2% of land
- Great fit without irrigation
- 19.8M sq mi51.2M km²
- Rain alone is enough
- Countries
- 199
- With great-fit land
Regions with the most suitable land
- 1
- 2
🇧🇷Amazonas, Brazil
Great fit on 218k sq mi563k km² · worth a try on 300 sq mi800 km²
For example Manaus (100), Itacoatiara (100)
- 3
🇧🇷Minas Gerais, Brazil
Great fit on 216k sq mi559k km² · worth a try on 1,900 sq mi5,000 km²
For example Uberlândia (100), Montes Claros (100)
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
🇪🇹Oromiya, Ethiopia
Great fit on 83k sq mi216k km² · worth a try on 18k sq mi48k km²
For example Welench’ītī (100), Gutin (100)
- 11
🇵🇰Punjab, Pakistan
Great fit on 79k sq mi206k km² · mostly with irrigation
For example Rawalpindi (100), Sialkot (100)
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
🇦🇺Queensland, Australia
Great fit on 66k sq mi171k km² · worth a try on 800 sq mi2,000 km²
For example Brisbane (100), Gold Coast (100)
Regions are states and provinces, counting land within 75 km of a town. At most three per country, so the list covers the world.
By country
- 🇧🇷Brazil2.3M sq mi6.0M km² · 99% of its land
- 🇮🇳India1.2M sq mi3.0M km² · 94% of its land
- 🇨🇳China1.0M sq mi2.6M km² · 47% of its land
- 🇺🇸United States883k sq mi2.3M km² · 41% of its land
- 🇮🇩Indonesia553k sq mi1.4M km² · 92% of its land
- 🇲🇽Mexico527k sq mi1.4M km² · 85% of its land
- 🇨🇩Democratic Republic of the Congo428k sq mi1.1M km² · 98% of its land
- 🇮🇷Iran394k sq mi1.0M km² · 73% of its land
- 🇦🇷Argentina368k sq mi952k km² · 61% of its land
- 🇳🇬Nigeria345k sq mi893k km² · 100% of its land
Best-suited towns
- 100%Ideal
🇳🇬 Ondo State, Nigeria
- 100%Ideal
🇵🇭 National Capital Region, Philippines
- 100%Ideal
🇲🇽 Tabasco, Mexico
- 100%Ideal
🇨🇫 Central African Republic
- 100%Ideal
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam
- 100%Ideal
🇵🇭 National Capital Region, Philippines
- 100%Ideal
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam
- 100%Ideal
🇮🇳 Karnataka, India
- 100%Ideal
🇮🇳 Maharashtra, India
- 100%Ideal
🇨🇴 Córdoba, Colombia
- 100%Ideal
🇻🇪 Monagas, Venezuela
- 100%Ideal
🇨🇳 Hainan, China
The most comfortable fits among the 2,000 biggest towns, two per region. Scores assume irrigation where rain falls short; Needs irrigation marks towns that need it.
What cotton needs
- Growing-season average
- Ideal 72–90°FIdeal 22–32°CWon't grow below 61°F or above 99°FWon't grow below 16°C or above 37°C
- Coldest growing-season night (monthly average)
- Ideal at least 54°FIdeal at least 12°CWon't grow below 43°FWon't grow below 6°C
- Growing-season rain
- Ideal 20–39 inIdeal 500–1,000 mmWon't grow below 9.8 in or above 67 inWon't grow below 250 mm or above 1,700 mm
- Frost-free days
- Ideal at least 190 daysWon't grow below 160 days
Needs a long, hot season and dry weather when bolls open.
Sources: FAO ECOCROP: Gossypium hirsutum; FAO Crop Water Information: cotton.
What stops it elsewhere
- Growing season too cool79%
- No month is both frost-safe and warm enough to sow20%
Share of the land scoring under 50, by what holds it back most.
How this map works
Every 28 km square of land is scored 0–100 against the requirements above, using 1991–2020 monthly climate averages with frost, chill and heat estimated by simulating daily weather. Each square is scored with whichever variety fits it best. “Irrigated” ignores rain shortfalls; “Rainfed” counts them. Tap any square to see everything that grows there.
Climate is only part of it: soil, slope, water and markets decide where a crop is actually farmed. Use this to shortlist places, then check them locally.