Environmentally safe - Organic cotton

Organic cotton production is the only farming system by which cotton is produced entirely free of chemical pesticides – and thereby without the risks that such chemicals pose to human health and the environment.

Organic cotton production represents an alternative farming system within which natural predator populations are nurtured within cotton production zones, and measures such as intercropping and crop rotation are used to halt the development of cotton pest populations.

Over the last few decades organic cotton production has grown from just 30 farmers producing 113 tonnes of cotton fibre, to a global total of more than 31000 tonnes. While these figures represent only a small fraction (0.15%) of world cotton production, they represent an important proof of principle that contemporary cotton production can occur without the use of hazardous pesticides. In fact, so successful has organic production proved, that global production has increased 5-fold over the past four years.

Cotton, the most important fibre crop of India plays a dominant role in its agrarian and industrial economy. It is the backbone of our textile industry, accounting for 70% of total fibre consumption in textile sector, and 38% of the country's export, fetching over Rs. 42,000 crores. Area under cotton cultivation in India (8.9 million ha) is the highest in the world, i.e., 25% of the world area and employs seven million people for their living.

As PAN-UK recently noted, ‘Most small farmers are motivated to move to organic cotton to avoid corruption in the conventional sector, health risks, debt, and by the prospect of receiving organic premiums as well as prompt cash payments. For women, the prime motivations for organic farming are improved family health, and their children are not at daily risk of fatal poisonings. Their food supply is also safer, and more plentiful’. Women seem to benefit proportionately more from organic cotton production, particularly from the freedom to control their own incomes.

Driving Change by Buying Organic

Demand for organic products among Western consumers is substantial, and growing. In a 2005 survey prepared by Ipsos MORI almost half of British consumers reported buying organic products, with many registering environmental concerns among those that shape the way they shop. In 2003, UK market growth for organic cotton was estimated at 38% per year, and continues to grow at a steady rate. To add to this, major clothing retailers, including Wal-Mart, Harrods, Marks and Spencer, Coop Switzerland and Italia, Migros, and Monoprix are all now offering organic clothing ranges.

The growth in sales of organic cotton products is greatly enhanced by the existence of comprehensive labeling systems which enable consumers in the developed world to make informed choices about the type of cotton they wish to purchase. This vital connection, which endows the global cotton supply chain with a degree of transparency and traceability, may be our best hope to date of harnessing the concerns of those in the West as a powerful economic force for improving the lives of the million of people who work to grow cotton in the developing world.