CSITC ROUND TRIAL 2024-3 COMPLETED in September 2024. New ranking information included. - JOIN FOR 2025! -


The 2024-3 Round Trial under the auspices of the ICAC Task Force on Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC Task Force) was conducted during the 3rd quarter of 2024, and results were sent out early in October.

61 testing facilities from all continents submitted results for in sum 164 instruments. Whereas the number of laboratories is quite usual, the number of instruments is this time on a new record high! (The average for the 3rd Round Trial is 132, and the maximum up to now was 160 instruments.) This proves the benefit that the participating labs achieve for each of their instruments.

For each laboratory, an overall evaluation result (OER) is calculated, which shows the overall deviations from the reference values for all samples and all properties.

The median Overall Evaluation Result (OER) is with a median of 0.400 not as good as the previous ones, but still in the typical range from 0.30 to 0.40 that we see from 2017 on, after strongly improving all the years since 2007.

For the first time, more detailed information about the ranking is given: in the instrument reports and in the laboratory certificates, an information is given for each instrument, on whether the instrument is in the top 10%, top 25%, top 50% or the top 75% of the devices.

Round Trials serve to improve cotton instrument testing worldwide by providing detailed, confidential, diagnostic results to each participating laboratory. Participating labs do not receive pass/fail results, but a detailed analysis of their results and deviations from the reference values, which helps the laboratories to improve.

Information about CSITC and a general summary of Round Trial results (information for individual laboratories is confidential) are available on this web site csitc.org --> CSITC Round Trials --> Round Trial Results. Any other general information can be found on icac.org.

If you are not part of the CSITC Round Trials now, please register now! The organizers of the Round Trial (ICAC, Faserinstitut Bremen and USDA-AMS) are continuing their work on the Round Trials and laboratory participation. Every testing facility can join this activity at any quarter of the year. For this, please contact the ICAC secretariat for your participation (csitcsecretariat@icac.org or Ms Maria Borisova - maria@icac.org). Participation cost will stay constant for 2025 with 325 USD per Round Trial (including up to 4 instruments), or 1300 USD for a complete year. Registration is open all year, but certainly it is best if you take part from the very first RT of the year on.

Join the CSITC Round Trials if you want to be part of this success story!


CSITC_Brochure-Information_20181127.pdf