Organic Cotton Production India

7/31/2019 Organic Cotton Production India

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Organic cotton cultivation in India - a culmination of non- chemical pest management

O rg a n ic Co t t o n Fa r m in g I n I n d ia

Ar t ic l e b y : -

A. T.P.RAJENDRAN

Senior Scientist,

Central Institute forCotton Research,Nagpur

B.M.V.VENUGOPALAN

Senior Scientist

[Agronomy],National Bureau of SoilSurvey and Land usePlanning,Nagpur.

C. P.P.TARHALKAR

Retired Principal

Scientist [Agronomy],Central Institute forCotton Research,Nagpur.

Cotton, the most important fibre crop of India plays a dominant role in itsagrarian and industrial economy. It is the backbone of our textile industry,accounting for 70% of total fibre consumption in textile sector, and 38% ofhe country's export, fetching over Rs. 42,000 crores. Area under cotton

cultivation in India (8.9 million ha) is the highest in the world, i.e., 25% ofhe world area and employs seven million people for their living.

Cotton productivity in India is quite low as compared to world standards. Themodern cotton production technology relies heavily on the use of fertilisersand on chemicals to control insect pests, diseases, weeds and growthegulators. Cotton cultivated on 5% cultivable land consumes 54% of total

pesticides used in Indian agriculture, and in some pockets, the rates arehigher than this, leaving immense ecological and human hazards as reportedby World Health Organisation. Use of chemicals at such scale causes a lot of

hazards to man, i.e., environmental pollution, soil health, and agro-ecologyand poor profitability in cotton farming. This has basically prompted thedemand of organically cultivated, eco-friendly or green cotton.

S c o p e f o r O r g a n i c Co t t o n Cu l t iv a t io n

The preamble of organic farming has been aimed at conservation andoptimised utilisation of all natural resources for a reasonable profitabilityunder the guiding factors of sustainability of the farm. In order to keep acertain threshold of profit from the farms, all the farming practices have to

be redesigned to undo the ill-effects that have crept in the currentagricultural scenario while attempting to increase cotton production in theprevalent cropping systems. A sense of balancing act to moderate theesource utilisation with anticipation for suspected damage to mother earths the essence of organic farming. The organic protocols of farming couldaccentuate and aid in imparting improved momentum to the bio-dynamismof crop fields. Lesser stable and poor bio-dynamism that has caused less-productive farms has alerted farmers on the question of long-termsustainance.

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At the end of this decade, it is quite satisfying to find that the abovehoughts paved the way for increased adoption of non-chemical farming

options. The happy marriage of conventional wisdom and rationalisedmodern agricultural technology has instilled sense optimism and hope togrowers, especially in rain grown crops. The balancing act seems to be quitedeft, but could have considerable impact on developing a better cause ofmodern Indian agriculture.

Five to seven decades ago, most of the cotton cultivated in the country waseco-friendly with little or no use of toxic chemicals in its production. Evenoday, there are many pockets in India, where it is produced without the use

of agrochemicals, e.g., areas growing Wagad cotton in Gujarat, Y-1 d e s icotton of Khandesh region of Maharashtra, Maljari in Madhya Pradesh, partof areas growing Jayadhar and Suyodhar in Karnataka, Nandicum in AndhraPradesh and parts of cotton areas in north eastern hill region.

n the rainfed tract of central India, cotton is grown on three million hectarei.e., 43% of total area) of marginal lands where production is low due to

poorly distributed rainfall, and eroded undulating nature of lands and lowesources investment by farmers. Such soils require low-cost and lowexternal input production systems to minimise cost on fertiliser andpesticides for imparting stability in production. Cultivation of cotton withorganic methods has helped farmers to improve sustainable productivity.The message on non-chemical and sustainable agriculture has pervaded tomany parts of India and is hopefully making inroads into some of thesouthern cotton growing Indian states.

Me r it s O f Or g a n i c Co t t o n Cu l t iv a t io n

A ) En v i r o n m e n t a lly Fr ie n d ly Te c h n o l o g y

] Due to excessive use of fertilisers and insecticides, all the elements of theagro-eco system gets polluted by the conventional method. Organic cottonproduction relies on non-chemical inputs and will decrease pollution hazards.

i] Pesticides residues in fibre may cause carcinogenic damage to users. Theuse of bio-rational products and biocontrol agents for pest management inorganic farming will cause no such effects.

ii] Large scale discharge of untreated and unprocessed effluents by textilendustry and dyeing units has not only caused health problems to man, cattleand fish in the rivers and canals, but yields of cotton are reported to beaffected due to polluted water that is used for irrigation.

v] Destruction of beneficial soil organisms may cause damage to soil healthcreating imbalance in the natural population of predators/parasitoids ofcotton pests. Organic farming helps to restore or preserve the naturalequilibrium between different components of the ecosystem.



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B ) R e d u c t io n in Co s t o f Cu l t iv a t io n

Modern production technology has lowered the cost-benefit ratio of cottonproduction. Farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra etc. areeported to have committed suicide due to escalation of production cost

without occurring commensurate profit from cotton cultivation. On the otherhand, organic farming creates rural employments and uses of on-farm

esources to make it more cost-effective.

C) Ma n a g e m e n t o f I n s e c t ic id e Re s is t a n c e

Due to indiscriminate use of hazardous insecticides for controlling cottonpests, the resistance of insects against the insecticide hiked up and in turncompelled the use of more number of sprays, and thus a vicious cycle iscreated, escalating cost of cultivation. Organic farming will help in reversinghis trend. Evidences on poorer choice of multiplication rate of pests on

organically grown cotton are encouraging factors to pursue this protocol.

Ap p r o a c h e s fo r F a r m in g o f Or g a n i c Co t t o n

Since organic cotton production warrants the cultivation in the absence ofagro-chemicals, it involves a careful selection of components of farmingsystem keeping the local resources, agro-climatic features and socio-economic structure for the formation of a suitable package as follows:

] S e l e c t io n o f s it e

Fields with high degree of soil erosion and heavily infested with perennialweeds should not be put under organic farming. Organic farming is not aarming by neglect or arm-chair cultivation and so, fertility levels of lessertile soils should be improved through organic means before opting for thisype of cultivation.

2 ] Va r i e t a l s e l e c t io n

High yielding varieties, which respond well to chemical inputs, may not

always be suitable for organic farming. Instead, varieties which are hardyand capable of giving acceptable farming especially in the early phase ofconversion are ideal. Varieties, which are jassid-tolerant, can be preferredover susceptible ones. Early maturing varieties are less exhaustive and willalso help the crop to escape heavy bollworm damage.

] S e e d r a t e a n d s o w in g

Acid delinted seeds cannot be used according to international normse.g.IFOAM] for organic cultivation for the purpose of certification of the



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ibre. However, those farmers who pursue organic farming for reducing thecost of cultivation and to increase the profitability could use acid-delintedseeds in order to avoid seed borne pathogenic infections and achieveoptimum plant stand. If fuzzy seeds are used, however, higher seed rate iso be used in order to achieve the same goal. About 25 kg/ha of seeds at

75x15 cm spacing ensures a final plant population of 85-90 thousandplants/ha. One row of fodder cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) should be drilledbetween two rows of cotton. This crop could be ploughed down and buried in

soil just before its flowering.

4 ] Ma n u r in g

To realise economical production, soil fertility has to be maintained andgradually improved. Improvement and maintenance of organic matter of thesoil is important in organic cotton production, as this would increase physicalparameters of soil, improve soil structure and enhance nutrient supply. Sincehuge amounts of FYM to meet nutrient requirement of the cotton crop is notgenerally available, a combination of sources with different biological

properties should be preferably used. Organic manures (FYM, compost,Vermicompost), in situ green manuring, cowpea and biofertilisers along withertility restoring crop rotations form the components for maintaining soilertility.

] Fa r m y a r d m a n u r in g [ F YM]

FYM @ 15 t/ha must be added before preparatory tillage and mixedhoroughly. FYM should be well decomposed and should be preferablyreated with composting organisms such as Trichod e rm a viride . The rate

may gradually be brought down 5-10 t/ha, once the farm yield stabilisesover a few years.

b ] Fo d d e r c o w p e a

n situ green manuring with fodder cowpea and its burying at 40 days aftersowing [DAS] will ensure a steady N supply during the grand-growth phaseand flowering period, when the N demand peaks up in the crop. It hastensmicrobial activity in soil, reduces weed growth and enhances natural enemybuild up.

This provides around 400-500 kg dry matter per hectare with 2.5% N andcontributes 10-12 kg N/ha during squaring. Its additional benefits includesmothering of weeds, controlling seasonal soil erosion and nurturing naturalenemies of cotton pests.

] D h a in c h a ( S e s b a n ia a c u le a t a )

Dense stand of this legume can be raised around cotton field at a width of 2



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m; its lopping cut and spread between cotton rows at 65-70 DAS. Its fastdecomposing leaves provide N during early boll development period andstalks act as temporary mulch, preventing soil moisture evaporation.

d ] Ve r m ic o m p o s t

Vermicompost @ 1-2 t/ha should be added supplementing FYM on the furrowines on which sowing is done. Its nutrient composition varies with substrate

hat is verrmicomposted, but generally contains several diverse microflorahat aid in good plant growth. It offers good scope for recycling of farm

waste.

] B i o f e r t i l i s e r s

Seed inoculation ofAz atobactoror Az os p irillu m @ 200 g/seed required forsowing one acre is recommended.

) Te c h n o lo g y f o r Co m p o s t in g

i ) VERMI COMPOST

Reliance on green biomass and farmyard manure is a sure method ofncreasing soil organic content. However, under the existing conditions,hese requirements are not fully met with. Enormous quantity of farm wastes

and organic residues are simply burnt. In order to utilise farm wastes andorganic residue for being recycled into compost, the modern thoughts are forutilising earthworms and fungus that are habituated to such conversion.

Promising Indian species, Eis e n ia foe t ida can convert organic wastes intovermicompost in about one month's time and convert anything except plasticnto compost.

Since preparation of vermicompost utilising any of the above species can bea very promising endeavour in rural areas, in addition to meeting thecompost requirement of one's own farm, it is desirable to take this up aspart of organic farming. The brief details regarding vermicompostingechniques is as follows.

Vermicompost can be made in raised beds of 15-25 cm height. The lengthand width can vary according to the quantum of wastes available forcomposing. Beds of 6x2 m are ideal. These beds should be made slightlyaised at the centre and sloping towards the sides (to facilitate effective

drainage), preferably under shade. As earthworms do not relish light, it isadvisable to keep the pits covered. Darkness also reduces the compostingime.

A soft bedding material with wheat/soybean straw is added as the first layer.This should be followed by a thin layer of cow dung slurry. Earthworm



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culture @ 1 kg/10m length of bed (2m wide) is then added. Earthwormcocoons or starter inoculant worms from vermi compost can also be used.Weeds, leaves chopping, farm wastes, household wastes and otherdegradable materials can be continuously added on the top. Water should besprinkled periodically to keep the beds slightly moist, but never wet. Underdeal moist and temperature conditions (27-33 C) the composting timewould be 40-50 days. Earthworm castings contain approximately 2.0-2.5%N, 2.5-2.9 per cent P2O5 and 1.2- 1.4% K2O, the exact composition varies

according to the substrate and composting conditions. The excreta oforganisms contain more N content over their level of consumption of N as invermi castings too.

i i) COMPOSTI NG OF COTTON STALKS THROUGH Tr ich o d e rm a v i r ide

Cotton stalks are burnt as fuel after picking of seed cotton is over. Thisesidue together with farm wastes from other crops and weeds can

effectively be utilised for preparing compost, through the use of beneficialungi like Trichod erm a v iride . The technique, as developed at CICR, Nagpur

s briefly described.

n a pit of 10 x 2 x 1m in size, dried cotton stalks from 2 hectare area areilled in four layers interspersed with other soft farm waste, such as sorghumstubble, linseed straw and soybean pod-haulms (to fill the gaps in betweencotton stalks) and 50 kg of cow dung (to provide a soft substrate for initialmultiplication of the fungus). Each layer was sprinkle inoculated with 2.5 kgT.viride wettable powder in 60 litre water mixed with half-kilogram jaggeryand 15 g yeast. The pit is finally covered with one foot layer of sunhempstalks for checking water loss. Periodic watering is made to maintain

sufficient moisture in the pit and turning of the top layer at least once duringhe decomposition process.

n the span of four months, most of the cotton stalks are converted intocompost, the rest (20%) being black, brittle, semi-decomposed stalks. Thiscompost is comparable to well-decomposed vermicompost. It could be usedor nutrient recycling, antagonistic fungus against certain soil-bornepathogens, viz., Fusarium spp., Rh iz octon ia spp. etc.

6 ) W e e d Ma n a g e m e n t

Fields not infested with perennial weeds such as Cyperus sp. (Motha),Cyanodon dactylon (Doob) and Sachharum sp. (Kans) are preferred fororganic farming as these are difficult to control. However, if such weedsoccur in patches, their underground propagatory structures (stolons,hizomes etc.) must be exposed by summer cultivation and manuallyemoved. Mechanical/manual weeding as per existing practice may be

adopted. Composting can recycle the weeds removed. It must be ensuredhat the FYM, compost added is completely decomposed, otherwise many

seeds of annual weeds, introduced through FYM, will germinate and



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aggravate the weed problem. Growing a crop of cowpea between 2 rows ofcotton will also suppress the early emerging weeds.

7 ) S e l e c t io n o f Ro t a t io n s

Crop rotations play a very important role in restoring soil fertility andminimising damage due to insect pests and weeds. High nutrient-exhaustiveotations must be avoided and instead rotations with a legume that is

ecommended for the locality may be adopted.

8 ) I P M St r a t e g ie s fo r Cr o p P r o t e c t io n

The crop protection to reduce the damage due to insect pests to organicallycultivated cotton revolves around the use of bioagents such as predatorssuch as Chrysoperla sp. or Ape rt och ry s a spp., egg parasitoids such asTrichogram m a, larval parasitoids such as Hab ro bra con spp. or insectpathogens such as He lico v e rp a arm ige ra Nuclear Polyhydrosis Virus [NPV]and a bacterium, Bacillus th u rin gu ie n s is var. kurs tak i (B.t.k.) formulationsalong with utilisation of bird perches and botanical insecticides like neemproducts.

Avoidance of pesticide application by introducing biocontrol agents, either bynatural augmentation processes or by artificial releases increased thestability of cotton cultivation. The basic concept of conserving naturalmortality agents of pests can be achieved in organic cotton cultivation,primarily by reducing insecticide application. These toxicants destroy both,pests and their natural enemies, and so, are not desirable for common use.To sum up, the following pest suppression strategies are recommended for

organic cotton cultivation.

i. Select a reasonably jassid tolerant cultivator.ii. Release ofChrysoperla spp. @ 500-1000/ha according to the intensity

of jassid damage between 20-25 days of crop growth once. For jassidsusceptible cultivator, this may be released after 35 days.

iii. Release Trichocards @ 5/ha once at 45-50 days and then after 10-12days, twice more in order to kill bollworm eggs.

iv. Spray H-NPV @ 250 larval equivalent (LE) [1LE= 200 crore (109 ) PolyInclusion Bodies [PIBs] or Poly Occlusion Bodies [POBs] when very

young larvae of American bollworm are spotted. This could berepeated after every 15 days for retaining good inoculum of thepathogen. This could be alternated with any commercial B.t.formulation @ 1.5 l/ha.

v. Release ofHa bro bra con h e bator is also useful for controlling growingbollworm larvae and other caterpillars damaging leaves and flowers.

vi. Placement of bird perches @ 5-6/ha would help in increasing thepredatory bird visit in cotton fields.

vii. The need-based botanical insecticides, seed kernel extract is used at5% v/v or 1-% oil are very useful to deter pest activity in the crop.



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viii. Monitoring of bollworm using the respective pheromone traps wouldgive a clue regarding their first occurrence in a season in order toinitiate adequate and suitable crop protection measures.

ix. One of the important cultural practices that is desirable is to depot thecrop that has grown beyond 80 days. This would reduce the egglaying ofH. arm ige ra .

From the studies conducted at Central institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur

on the technology generation for sustainable organic cotton production andts evaluation with conventional farming with use of chemicals (fertilisers andnsecticides), the following facts have emerged for careful consideration.

a) In a span of 3-4 years, there was gradual build up in soil productivity andseed cotton yield in organic farming was at par to non-organic farming (Fig1).

b) In the initial year, the yield realisation through organic system was about40% of that of conventional (non-organic) system, with comparable or

slightly higher (7-10%) production costs. This situation improves insubsequent years

c) There was also a gradual improvement in soil fertility parameters such asorganic carbon content and available P (Fig 2a & b). The organic carboncontent stabilised at 0.50-0.55% after 4-5 years.

d) One interesting observation was that even jassid susceptible cultivatorsuch as LRA. 5166 showed good tolerance to jassid infestation under organicenvironment.

There was a good build up of natural enemies, such as egg, larval and pupalparasitoids, and also of various predators of cotton pests (Fig 3). Undercontinuous cultivation of cotton in organic environment, its stability situationor better performance was achieved over a period of time. Capability ofcotton plant to withstand pest infestation was found to be highly remarkableFig 4).

According to the estimates of Cotton Corporation of India, Mumbai 14-15akh bales of organic cotton is produced in India and used for making textile

products. A few thousand bales of organic cotton are exported without anyeco-label. Concentrated efforts are lacking on research, extension, andmarketing and trade fronts. The estimated certified organic cotton fibreproduction for 1997 in India as well as that of other nations of the world isgiven in Table 1. As given therein, Indian certified organic cotton productions 15% of the total world production of this type of lint and it is about 37% ofhe Asian production. In addition to this, there is several uncertified quantity

of the fibre that is not included in this statistics. Unlike other countries whereorganic cotton production is sponsored programme and is more organised ints marketing, the Indian organic cotton production seems to be much more



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han what is actually recorded. Being a leading global producer of mediumand long staple length lint through organic methods, we have the advantageof competing in the supply and demand position of the world. This could addo the profitability to our cotton growers.

Awareness for growing organic cotton, however, is growing. Many voluntaryorganisations, like VOFA (VIDARBHA ORGANIC FARMERS ASSOCIATION),MOFA (MAHARASHTRA ORGANIC FARMERS ASSOCIATION), SHRIDA-BIORE

etc. have been formed either by farmers groups interested in organic cottoncultivation or to assist such groups by offering technical assistance. Around1200 hectares of land was cultivated under organically grown cotton by 135armers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra alone through voluntaryassociation-VOFA with average yield level of 500-750 kg/ha. Theechnological properties of various cultivators grown under the organic

cultivation such as micronaire (3.8-5.0), span length (25.5-29.9 mm) andibre maturity parameters were similar to fibres produced by conventionalmethods.

A voluntary Organisation - INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR ORGANICAGRICULTURE MOVEMENT [IFOAM] has formulated standards and guidelinesor organic cotton cultivation and are followed by many labelling agencies tocertify organic cotton and other farm produce.

Technology for growing organic cotton for different regions of the country isbeing developed for its higher profitable and sustainable production so thatmarketing agencies can market organic cotton to potential buyers. Effortsare needed to identify and tap such buyers of organic cotton and yarn. It isnecessary to contact and tap some leading international buyers from Japan,Korea, Thailand etc. to explore the marketing of organic cotton. Premiumprospects of organic cotton trade will have to be fully explored.

Selected Further reading

1. Dorothy Myers and Sue Stolton (ed.). 1999. Organic Cotton fromfield to final product. Intermediate Technology Publication, 250 pp.

2. Kairon, M.S., Tarhalkar, P.P., Rajendran, T.P., Venugopalan, M.V. AndBambawale, O.M. (1998). Organic cotton cultivation Technology andissues to be addressed. Jou rn al o f In d ian S ocie ty for Co t tonIm pro v e m e n t S pe cial is s u e on th e Natu ra l an d Co lou r Co t ton

Workshop he ld in May 1 997 .

3. Techno logy ge ne rated for organic-cot ton cult ivat ion . ICAR NEW S 4(2):1-2. M.S.Kairon, P.P.Tarhalkar, T.P.Rajendran, O.M.Bambawale AndM.V.Venugopalan, 1998.

4. Third IFOAM-AS IA S cien tif ic Confere nce "Food S e curity in Harm onywith Natu re", 1-4 Dec., 1997, UAS, Hebbal, Bangalore. S oil fertilitym anage m en t in organic cot ton cult ivat ion. pp. 7-8.

5. P.P.Tarhalkar, M.V.Venugopalan, T.P.Rajendran, O.M.Bambawale andM.S.Kairon (1996). Generation and evaluation of appropriatetechnology for organic cotton cultivation in rainfed vertisols. Jou rn al o f



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In d ian S ocie ty for Co t ton Im pro v e m e n t Im p ro v e m e n t .21:111-122

Ta b l e : 1

CERTI FI ED ORGANI C COTTON FI BRE PRODUCTION I N 1 9 9 7

C o n t i n e n t /

c o u n t r y

Ou t p u t S o u r c e % o f g lo b a l

( t o n n e s )

T o t a l

AFRICA

Egypt 500 ECOA

Uganda 800 AGRO ECO

Tanzania 200 BIOHERB

Mozambique 50 IAM

Zimbabwe 5 ZIP RESEARCH

Benin 5 OBEPAB Senegal 10 ENDA-PRONAT

CONTINENT TOTAL 1570 19

ASIA

India

MAIKAAL 900

SRIDA 30

VOFA 105 GINNI PROJECT 240

TOTAL 1175 15

Turkey

Bo weevil 500 Bo weevil

Rapunzel 100

Others 1200 Bo weevil

TOTAL 1800

22

Israel 50 IBOAA Minimal 1

Greece 110 CLASSICO


LATIN AMERICA

PERU 700 PER JIBORN

ARGENTINA 70 PYMA COTTON



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BRAZIL 5 RICHARD HARITY

NICARAGUA 20 ECOFIBER INDEX

PARAGUAY 50 ECOFIBER INDEX


UNITED STATESFOR AMERICA

2600 ORGANIC FIBER COUNCIL 32

GRAND TOTAL 8150

Source: Dorothy Myers and Sue Stolton (ed.). 1999. Organic Cotton-fromield to final product.)

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Organic Cotton Production India