Working with raw cotton. - - Cotton Production. The Sudan is one of the leading producers of cotton which is the country's major cash crop and provides about 67% of its total earnings of foreign exchange. The bulk of the cotton crop is produced on irrigated lands, and further expansions of the irrigated area promise considerable increase in production. The Sudan's importance in the world cotton market derives from the fact that the country produces between 40 and 45% of the total world production of extra-long-staple cotton (i.e. one and three-eighths of an inch or longer). Cotton production is substantially nationalized. Profits are shared among the Government, which owns and irrigates the land, the tenant farmers, local governments, and the Social Development Fund, which provides services to the tenants. Through the work of Government extension agents, farmers are learning more efficient methods of cotton production and handling.