Organic cotton is that cotton which is obtained
from non-genetically modified plants without use of any pesticides and
synthetic fertilizers. As the use of chemicals (whether toxic or not) is
avoided, its cultivation helps sustaining environment biodiversity and helps in
balancing the ecosystem.
One
of the major drawbacks of non-organic cotton cultivation is its harmful effect
on the health of farmers and excessive pollution caused due to continuous use
of insecticides and synthetic fertilizers to get additional yield. Although the
cotton consumption rate has also increased which calls for additional
production, but at the same time balance between the nature and ecosystem has
to be maintained.
Organic Cotton: Image Source
In
general, in a 100% cotton product, only 70-75% is cotton and the remaining percentage
constitutes of thousands of chemicals, binders, and resins which are used in cultivation
and product manufacturing. So one way or another, chemical consumption in our
daily lives has gone up, in form of various products that we use every day, be
it clothes, handkerchiefs, bed-sheets etc.
In
organic cotton cultivation, untreated seeds or non-GM cotton seeds are used. As
no insecticide or synthetic fertilizers or other poisonous chemicals have to be
used, the soil must be nutrient rich. In order to maintain the soil fertility,
cotton is grown in alternate years with cotton as main crop and red gram/ green
gram/black gram, pea/soybean or maize/sorghum/legume as intercrop with crop
rotation.
Deep
ploughing should be done on yearly basis to destroy larvae or cocoons. Green
manuring and use of plant leaf litter also helps to improve soil fertility. Weeding
from organic cotton cultivated field should be done manually or hand-hoeing
method should be adopted instead of chemical use.
Benefits
of Organic Cotton
1. In
case of GM cotton cultivation, farmers and workers suffer from respiratory
problems and skin allergic reactions. However, as use of toxic chemicals and
synthetic fertilizers is avoided in organic cotton cultivation, health risks
have reduced to certain limit.
2. Organic
farming plays a vital role in reducing environmental pollution as eco-friendly
techniques are used for cotton cultivation.
3. As
GM cotton seeds are highly expensive and a very high hike in their price is
observed every year, which increases the expense of farmers. But in case of
organic cotton, seed price are constant and their yield is nearly twice as
compared to GM cotton.
4. It
has been found that non-organic cotton final product which we are using in our day-to - day life contains
toxic chemical residue which can be absorbed through skin and can cause allergies or skin rashes. However, the end products
made up of organic cotton are chemical free and ecofriendly.
In
a nutshell, Organic Farming is best suited for Indian ecosystem and Indian
ethos. We might have an ever increasing population whose demands can be
satiated by increasing the crop production by genetically modifying the seeds
but we are not yet in a position to handle its aftermaths. When medically
advanced European nations are still doubtful about the potential threats of GM
seeds, it’s appropriate that we Indians stick to the conventional forms of
farming, which have been tested over a long period of time.
