We were amazed when we encountered huge cotton fields in southern Arizona. Cotton here, where the soil is getting drier and cacti are growing under a blue sky? If we know something about cotton, it is that it needs a lot of water. And water is something that is not abundant in the south of Arizona. Of course, there is also an aquifer here. But fact is that the groundwater level is decreasing as more and more water is needed. (Currently, too, to mix the cement for the Trump wall, which is being built on the border with Mexico.)

We researched about the cotton growing areas on the Internet and were surprised to find that the US is one of the main producers. The world’s most important cotton producers are the People’s Republic of China, India, the USA and Pakistan. And Arizona is one of the areas where cotton is planted in big scale. On that day we passed huge fields where machine-picked cotton in big yellow rolls was waiting to be transported.

PS: 1973, on a journey through Africa, I saw black people picking white cotton by hand and carrying it in large baskets on their heads to the collection point …