Global apparel brands opt for organic cotton

Textile majors' demand set to double organic cotton output in 2 years.

International apparel brands are now opting for organic cotton. Rising enquiries from international brands are likely to more than double the global production of organic cotton in the next two years.

Organic cotton, currently, makes up a minuscule share in the total cotton production. However, industry experts believe that there is a huge potential for increasing the organic cotton production.

Brands such as Nike, Marks and Spencer, Timberland and Wal-Mart, which already sell organic products, are blazing a trail on the organic front. By the 2009-end, Nike projects a 50 per cent share of organic cotton in its sports apparel category, which will be taken further up to 100 per cent by 2011. Meanwhile, new players such as Reebok, Target and Next have entered the organic cotton market.

"The increasing usage and popularity of organic cotton should be seen as an immense opportunity to capitalise on India's competitive strength in cotton production," said Textile Commissioner J N Singh. He further added that the country should grow more of organic cotton and be the first choice as supplier for the growing markets. Untreated seeds with no genetic modifications are used for producing organic cotton. Moreover, there is no use of insecticides or pesticides. Organic cotton instead maintains a balance between pests and their natural predators by using biological practices to control pests.

Domestic textile firms have shown interest in organic cotton in recent times. They are looking for tie-ups with retailers to supply organic fabric and, if required, garments too. Alok Industries is one such firm that has tied up with a few brands and will be supplying fabric to them. As it is hard to get enough organic material from the country, it is learnt that the company will be sourcing the raw material from Africa. It will then make fabric in the country before supplying it to customers.

"Demand from retailers for organic cotton garments is scaling up," said Dilip Jiwrajka, managing director of Alok Industries. He further added that the company would be supplying a small quantity initially, which would be subsequently increased.

According to a senior official of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), the country currently produces only 15,000-20,000 bales (each of 170 kg) of organic cotton. It is negligible compared with the total conventional cotton production of 270 lakh bales last year.

Rahul Mehta, president of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), said, "Cultivation of organic cotton is expensive, but it will certainly be a growing sector in the trade. In the long run, it will be an explorable option."

It normally takes two to three years to convert a farm from conventional cotton to the organic one. However, in the initial years, yield is far lesser, but by four to five years, production almost becomes at par with that of the conventional one. "Going forward, the yield of organic cotton exceeds the yield of conventional cotton," said the CCI official. However, market analysts said that farmers did not want to take the risk as the conversion period was too long, leading to a loss in the initial stage. They suggested that corporate farming was one answer, which, in fact, was happening in a few areas.

"If textiles firms want to go for organic cotton farming, no one is preventing them from doing so. There is good scope for increasing organic production in cotton," said Singh.

Vikram Rao, director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation, said, "Organic cotton farming is happening, but in a smaller way. Difficulty in managing the crop is making the process slow."

Textile firms have also shown interest for fair-trade cotton zones in the country. Such zones are prevalent in Africa to benefit poor farmers. But, so far, there are no specific policies from the government on this front. Experts said that Vidarbha region could well be certified as one such zone. This will help in assuring cotton farmers to fetch a fair price for their produce. "If any such opportunity comes, we will certainly go for it," said Jiwrajka. He added that for organic cotton, the company would be ready to take care of farmers till the farms were well equipped to produce better yield. He, however, said that in a fair-trade cotton zone, the crop could be organic as well as conventional.

Organic cotton prices are, currently, in the range of Rs 26,000-32,000 a candy (each candy = 356 kg), depending on the quality of the crop. On the other hand, conventional cotton hovers around Rs 19,000 a candy.