Interior India is seeing a war being fought by big businesses with the help of small and marginal farmers over organic cotton. Eager to carve out a bigger pie for themselves in the global organic cotton market, which has grown to $4.3 billion in 2009, up 35% over the previous year, domestic textile majors like Arvind and Trident, and global fashion retailers like UK-based Mark & Spencer and Belgium-based C&A are strengthening their supply chains. And it begins at the doorstep of marginal cotton farmers spread over Madhya Pradesh to Andhra Pradesh.
Organic farming minimises the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides and genetically modified seeds. Such practices not only enhance the regenerative quality of the soil, but also maintain the integrity of the ecosystem.
The global organic cotton market is projected to grow to $5.1 billion in 2010 and $6 billion in 2011, according to Organic Cotton Market Report 2009 , brought out recently by Organic Exchange, an NGO.
Leading textile manufacturer Arvind, which has established an organic cotton-growing project at Akola in Maharashtra, involving more than 1,000 farmers over 10,000 acre, plans to cover 1 lakh acre by 2014. Under a contract farming model, Arvind not only trains farmers to grow organic cotton, but also pays farm certification costs and guarantees to buy back cotton from farmers. Says Mahesh Ramakrishnan, agri business head, Arvind Ltd, “This has helped us eradicate malpractices indulged in by a section of traders and ensure integrity of organic production.” The organic practices of the project are certified by The Netherlands-based Control Union. Arvind supplies organic cotton to global retailers like C&A, H&M and Walmart.
Abhishek Industries, part of the Trident Group, which supplies organic cotton yarn to global brands like Walmart, H&M, C&A, Nike and Levis Strauss, is also planning to increase its footprint to cater to this fast-growing segment in global agriculture, according to Rajneesh Bhatia, head of yarn division.
Global brands are not only sourcing organic cotton from Indian companies but are also active at the farm level. Mark & Spencer and WWF India’s joint venture Warangal Cotton Project, which involves 1,500 farmers, is targeting to engage 10,000 more heads to produce 7,000 tonne cotton, according to Venu Nair, head of region (South Asia Sourcing Offices), Mark & Spencer. Since cotton comprises more than half the fibre used in the products of these companies, the target can only keep on getting bigger.
C&A, which is the biggest organic cotton retailer in the world, sourced more than 90% of its certified organic cotton fibre from India last year. Philip Chamberlain, head, Sustainable Business Development, C&A Europe, says, “We track various supply chains to ensure that we have transparency within our own system.” The company plans to sell 23 million pieces in 2010, up from 18 million pieces in 2009, with at least 20% year-on-year increase.
Such initiatives have contributed to make India the biggest producer of organic cotton fibre by volume with the lions share of 61.4% Turkey (15.61%) and Syria (12.57%) are a distant second and third. Encouraged by the results, charities active in the environment space are also working overtime to increase the footprint of organic cotton farming.
Shell Foundation has set up an initiative called Trading Up to link marginal farmers with big retailers.
According to Anuradha Bhavnani, programme director (India), Shell Foundation, “We are training farmers to switch over from conventional to sustainable farming and ensure credible certification.” The foundation aims to reach 1,00,000 farmers eventually from 50,000 at present.
The government has also become more proactive. The Agricultural & Products Export Development Authority or Apeda, which has been implementing the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) to set standards for organic production and give accreditation to certification bodies, has also launched web-based TRACENET to help track details of organic value chains. Apeda standards and conformity assessment procedures are already recognised by the European Commission and the US, thereby enhancing the acceptability of certified organic products from India.
Such initiatives are not only fuelling the industrys growth but also providing social, environmental and economic benefits to farmers.
Says Organic Exchange in its Organic Cotton: Farm and Fiber Report 2009: “In ideal situations, farmers and communities benefit from reduced exposure to chemicals, less vulnerability to debt (as they don’t have to purchase expensive fertiliz\sers and pesticides), greater security to sell their crops, and more money to invest in their farms, their families, and the community.”
These inferences have been also borne out by another just-released Greenpeace report. Picking Cotton The Choice Between Organic and Genetically-Engineered Cotton for Farmers in South India says organic cotton farmers earn 200% more than those engaged in genetically engineered cotton or BT cotton.
There are issues, though. The most important issue is about maintaining the integrity of organic cotton fibre.
Says Arun Chandra Ambatipudi, executive director, Chetna Organic Farmers Association, which works with about 8,000 tribals in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa, “There is a need to develop an entire ecosystem for organic farming, beginning with the provision of easy access to biotech-free seeds and natural fertilisers.”
Adds Rajeev Baruah, CEO, bioRe India, which works with about 9,000 participating farmers spread over 16,000 acres close to Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, “There is also need for retailers and brands to play a more proactive role in promoting organic cotton with a long-term vision.”
Experts say addressing these issues is not only important for farmers in India but for the global organic cotton community in general, because India is a test case.
If the organic cotton industry in India continues to grow, maintaining its integrity, then global industry has a big reason to follow for both business and environmental reasons.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 20 June 2010