Think of a fiber that is non allergenic, comforting, hundred percent plant product, soothing, has high absorbent properties, non irritant and has wide medical and industrial uses; apart from being the top natural fiber in terms of its uses in cloth manufacturing. I am sure that the only name that will come to your mind is “Cotton”. To be more precise, that was conventionally grown cotton; the most infamous of crops in terms of usage of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in its cultivation.

It has an enormous appetite for these toxic pesticides and fertilizers and is alone responsible for consumption of more than fifteen percent of world’s total production of pesticides. But, despite being so infamous, if conventionally grown cotton is so much sought after and is still so soothing on skin; think how soothing and comfortable Organic Cotton can be. The way Organic Cotton is becoming famous and its production is increasing, you must have heard its name by now. Many of you might know it very well too. But for those who have just heard the name and want to know more or those who have not heard of it yet, here is something.
• Organic Cotton: Organic Cotton is the cotton that is grown without using any chemical fertilizer or pesticide on it; on a land that has been treated and given sufficient time (at least three years) for removal of all the toxic residues of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used earlier on it; from original plants, i.e. plants that are not genetically modified and that has not been treated with any chemical (washes, bleaches, colours, scents etc.) during its processing and packaging.
• Uses: Organic Cotton can rightly be called the most skin friendly, most soothing and absolutely harmless natural fiber. While conventional cotton can sometimes be irritating to new born skins, Organic Cotton is never. It is the ideal material for protecting and cleaning new born babies, making clothes, bandages, covering and cleaning wounds, making baby crib beddings and baby clothes, towels and thousands of such things. It can also be safely used in surgeries where contamination from any source can be fatal. Organic Cotton Seed Oil, a bi-product of Organic Cotton, has wide uses in snacks and in feed for livestock.
• Production: Production of Organic Cotton has increased enormously over the last few years. Global Organic Cotton production jumped by more than fifty two percent (53%) in 2006-2007 over that in 2005-2006 and then amazingly by almost one hundred and fifty two percent (152%) in 2007-2008. That amounts to 145,872 Metric Tons or 668,581 Bales grown in 24 countries, with India topping other nations. Among others, the specialty of Indian Organic Cotton is that all the cotton is hand picked. The major Organic Cotton producing nations are listed in descending order of the amount of Organic Cotton they produced, as under;

• India
• Syria
• Turkey
• China
• Tanzania
• United States of America
• Uganda
• Peru
• Egypt
• Burkina Faso
• West Africa
• Kyrgyzstan

• Market: You can have a very good idea of market of Organic Cotton from the production figures displayed above. Even with such a growth in production, the total Organic Cotton production is still falling short in meeting the global demand. It is near 0.55% of the total global cotton production. Some studies forecast that the total global market of Organic Cotton by the end of 2008 is expected to cross $2.6 Billions USD. That’s brilliant!
• Cultivation: Here is a comparative study of cultivation techniques adopted in cultivating conventional Non Organic Cotton and Organic Cotton.

• Myths & Facts: Some people are of the belief (or they are made to believe by the promoters of conventional cotton) that conventional cotton has better quality than Organic Cotton, but in fact, it is just the other way round. Organic Cotton is of far better quality than Non Organic Cotton. When you tell them this, they will raise another point. They will say that conventional cotton farming gives more production. That was true even a few years ago, but not now. It is true that cotton is very prone to infestation and fungal infections and even a few years back, the conventional cotton growers who used lots of synthetic insecticides, pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers, naturally enjoyed more production. That was then when advanced techniques of organic farming were limited to researches. Now the scenario has changed. Egypt, a major cotton producing nation, has done a miracle. By implementing advanced organic farming techniques, it has cut down its usage of artificial fertilizers and pesticides by more than ninety percent (90%) and yet achieved a growth of thirty percent (30%) in production. That’s exemplary! So, Organic Cotton is commercially far more beneficial than conventional Non Organic Cotton.
• Benefits: Apart from the commercial gains discussed above, Organic Cotton is health friendly and environment friendly, unlike its conventional counterpart. I think that only these two reasons are more than sufficient to switch over to Organic Cotton, because health and environment should be the prime concerns for any reasonable human being.
• The Cons: The only thing that goes against Organic Cotton is its price. It is costlier than conventional cotton. At least, so far. This is because of lesser production of Organic Cotton and higher prices of organic fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. Organic Cotton farming also calls for more manual labour than the conventional one. But seeing the rate at which production of Organic Cotton is increasing and more and more farmers taking to organic farming, situations will change and prices will surely go down very soon. You know, more the production and more the demand, the lesser per unit production cost and lesser the prices. That’s simple! There is one more problem and that is that Organic Cotton goods are not available in as many colours as the conventional cotton goods are. This is because there are not many shades of organic colours to colour the Organic Cotton with and using artificial colours and dyes on it is out of question. But I see no harm if you are not wearing bright dazzling colours; it is out of fashion too!
• Must do: Before buying garments or other goods made of Organic Cotton, make sure following;

• It is certified by a recognized certifying authority.
• It does not have dazzling colours, as they are seldom organic.
• It should not be artificially scented.
• It should not be chemically bleached.
• The Class of Certificate, the whereabouts of the certifying agency, details of contents are clearly indicated on the pack.

• Certifiers: Here is a list of certifiers whose certificates you may find on the certified Organic Cotton goods;

• Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS)
• USDA National Organic Program (NOP)
• European Organic Regulations (EU 2092/91)
• Export Certificates for Japan (JAS Equivalent)
• Indian National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).
• Quebec Organic Reference Standard (CAAQ)
• Bio Suisse Standards
• IOFAM Basic Standards
• ECOCERT

I can conclude the whole thing in just a single sentence and that is “Organic Cotton is the best and the safest natural fiber on Earth!” Thank you.

This article was contributed by Aparup Mukherjee

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