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TECHNICAL UPDATE - ORGANIC COTTON CERTIFICATION

One of the oldest and the most popular of natural fibers used in the textile industry is cotton. It is one of “the” important of commodities or products traded in the world.  It is the bane of Indian exports, India and cotton simply go hand in hand. Try this for statistic,  India is expected to produce 25.5 million bales of cotton in the year 2012-13 as per USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) October crop Production Report.  Major portion of the cotton is produced according to modern farming practices using chemical fertilizers and pesticides or as it is popularly termed “the conventional way”. The high incidence of the use of chemicals is seen as one of the biggest bane in its farming.  It is with this view that there is an increasing thrust on organic cotton. The quantities of organic cotton are still fledgling, it is said to be growing at an impressive 20% per annum. Understandably so, given India’s niche with cotton, India is amongst the top major producers of organic cotton today.  Organic cotton does not mean growing cotton without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides but in turn is attributed to understanding the processes and then zeroing down on the inputs. Farms have to complete two year convention period of switching over from conventional into organic. The emphasis is on agronomical procedures. Organic cotton is defined as that which is produced according to the internationally recognized organic farming standards or guidelines. These have been formulated by EU regulation 834/2007, USA National Organic Program (NOP), the Indian National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) or the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS).  Given India’s dominance as one of the top most producers of organic cotton, these standards assume more importance.  There is some confusion on fair trade cotton. Fair trade cotton is that which is traded ethically and benefits the farmer groups. Organic cotton on the other hand benefits the environment. In a way both complement each other and are ideal linkages in this future for organic cotton and move towards sustainability.

The certification for organic cotton textile and apparel is very interesting. The certificate is not only for 100% organic cotton used but grades it as per the percentage present in the garment. Like 95% and above, 75 – 95% each of which is labeled differently and distinctly so that the consumer is aware as to what grade he or she is paying for.

We will take a journey on the various types of Organic cotton certification available all over the world! 

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