Organic Cotton
"By buying an organic cotton T-shirt or bed sheet you are giving us the chance to re-establish our natural farming system in a way that is not hazardous to coming generations and the soil that nourishes us all."
Ram Kalaspurkar, organic cotton farmer, Maharastra, India
Non-Organic Cotton - The Problem
"Cotton" - the word conjures images of natural, clean, fluffy white fibres; a healthy, environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic fabrics. The reality is not so pretty - conventional cotton production is hugely reliant on pesticides derived from petrochemicals.
Only 2.5% of all farmland worldwide is under cotton, but a staggering 10% of chemical pesticides and 22% of all insecticides sprayed are on cotton. That means that 8 times more pesticide is used on one hectare of conventional cotton, than on a hectare planted with an average food crop.
Destruction of environment: Pests exposed to synthetic pesticides build up a resistance to them. Each year, farmers have to buy more and more pesticide to keep pest numbers down and keep growing the amount of cotton. Heavy pesticide use reduces biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems in the surrounding areas and contaminates water courses and ground water.
Spiral of debt: Increased use of pesticides increases production costs for farmers and reduces their income. Many are forced into a spiral of debt. They borrow to grow more cotton, but make less money from the crop each year. In parts of India agricultural chemicals take up 60% of the farmer's production budget. In the Indian State of Maharashtra alone, the government estimates that over 1,000 farmers have committed suicide since 2001 because they were irrevocably in debt.
Chronic health problems: Many chemicals used in cotton farming to kill or control the pests are acutely toxic. At least three of the chemicals used heavily in cotton production are in the "dirty dozen" - so dangerous that 120 countries agreed at a UNEP conference in 2001 to ban them, but so far this hasn't happened.
The World Trade Organisation estimates that 20,000 deaths and three million chronic health problems each year are the result of the use of agricultural pesticides in developing countries.
Water intensive: Most cotton is heavily irrigated. The Aral Sea has almost disappeared as the water courses that flowed into it have been diverted to grow - white gold - in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. This has been catastrophic for the fishery and is now destroying the cotton fields. Years of rapid evaporation from semi-desert soils has left salt residues, making the land unfertile.
Organic Cotton - The Benefits
People Tree's organic cotton farmers receive a 30% premium above conventional cotton prices - and we commit to buying the cotton before the crop is grown, so they have security of income as well. The cotton is produced by a group called Agrocel in Gujarat, India, which works with 20,000 small-scale farmers, using Fair Trade principles to support them in the conversion to organic farming.
Organic cotton production uses none of the harmful chemical pesticides used to produce conventional cotton:
- good for the natural environment
- good for cotton farmers' health
- good for farmer's income - they do not have to pay for expensive agricultural chemicals
The Alternative: Organic cotton farmers use natural pesticides usually containing a mixture of chilli, garlic and soap. This keeps pests off the crops, but does not destroy their natural predators - which survive to control their numbers naturally.
Another method used is intercropping, where secondary crops - like sunflowers or millet for instance - are grown between and around small plots of cotton. These create a natural barrier against the cotton pests - the boll weevils cannot scent their favourite food through the foliage of the other crops. These secondary crops may also provide another cash crop or food for the farmers, a useful hedge against a poor cotton harvest.
These farming methods promote biodiversity - organic cotton fields contain a significantly higher number of insect species, especially those that are beneficial.
Our organic cotton is largely rain-fed - the soils are fertilised with natural organic materials which helps to give the soil higher humus content - making it better able to retain moisture and its fertility.
Assisi
Unlike many of the high street Fairtrade cotton ranges, which are usually produced in conventional garment factories, People Tree's organic cotton garments are manufactured to the highest Fair Trade standards throughout. They are produced by Assisi Garments, a Fair Trade project in Southern India, which was established in 1994 as a rehabilitation centre for deaf, dumb, and poor women who were considered unfit for marriage by their families.
Assisi was the first Indian manufacturer to receive the Soil Association mark for organic cotton. Their employees are paid 50% above the standard wage, given free accommodation, water and electricity and help towards paying their dowries. People Tree has worked with Assisi since its onset, during which time our regular orders have helped their initial staff of just 8, grow to 150.
The organic sector is growing fast but is still marginal, in the UK organic cotton sales makes up only 0.01% of the market. You can help change this.
Wear organic cotton - and help make the cotton production cleaner, sustainable and provide decent incomes for cotton farmers. SHOP NOW
