India on fast track to top slot in organic cotton farming
India is all set to be a world leader in the production of organic cotton. “The organic farming movement is gaining ground in India.
By Arun Iyer, TNN |
BANGALORE: India is all set to be a world leader in the production of organic cotton. “The organic farming movement is gaining ground in India.
We expect that the country will be the leader in ’06-07, with record production of organic cotton,” says Simon Ferrigno, director of the farm development programme of Organic Exchange, an NGO specialising in organic agriculture for natural fibres like cotton.
India’s production of organic cotton in ’06 is pegged at 10,000 tonnes and expected to touch 14,000 tonnes next year. Although India ranks among the top five cotton producers, the output of organic cotton is pegged at less than 3% of the nation’s overall cotton production.
Mr Ferrigno’s optimism is borne out by the fact that the gap between India and Turkey (the leader till date) has been shrinking rapidly. It was as much as 750 tonnes in ’01 (when Turkey produced 1,750 tonnes out of the global output of 6,400 tonnes).
“While the operating cost of conventional agriculture has rapidly increased, the returns have been declining. Conventional agriculture is becoming extremely risky,” says Mr CS Pawar, a former ICRISAT scientist and organic farming advisor.
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It is believed that there are about 30,000 organic cotton growers in the country, the majority of them in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Ms Rebecca Calahan Klein, president of the California-based Organic Exchange, says the West is looking with keenness at India’s organic farming movement. Ms Klein says that even large department stores and retail chains in the US and Europe are keen to promote organic products, including apparel made from organic cotton.
British retailer Marks & Spencer is expected to announce an autumn collection made from organic cotton. And the likes of Timberland and Nike are also making a beeline to India to source apparel made from organic cotton.
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