how our organic cotton is produced

Our organic cotton is produced by three growing projects in India – two in Madhya Pradesh and one in Gujarat. Since 1992 they have expanded to include over 2,500 family farmers, collectively producing over 400,000 pounds of cotton each year.

Organic growing offers many benefits: improved soil fertility, decreased costs and increased revenue, less water is needed as organic methods help retain moisture in the soil and promote porosity, and the food crops produced alongside the cotton are more healthy as they do not come into contact with industrial agricultural chemicals.

Before switching to organic production, these farmers were borrowing from moneylenders at a rate of 24-36% per annum to buy pesticides and chemical fertilisers.

Alternative, safe and organic methods save the farmers’ money. There is also some evidence that it benefits the development of children living on and around the farms. (According to Greenpeace in India, children reared on organic farms have faster mental development than those growing up on conventional farms.)

Cotton is grown rotationally with maize, soybeans, wheat, sesame, sorghum and chillies. Some of these are ‘barrier’ crops and repel pests; others, such as maize and sorghum, attract beneficial insects.

Soil is fertilised by adding natural organic materials such as manure, compost and earthworm castings, crop rotation, the addition of oil cakes as supplements and the use of bio-dynamic preparations.

The standard of living and quality of life in all three cooperative projects have improved for farmers and their families.

After the cotton fibre is harvested by picking the flowers of the cotton plant – the 'bolls', it is ginned at a facility near the growing area. Ginning separates the fibres from the seeds in a cotton 'gin' (short for engine). This process also removes all dirt, stems and leaves, producing clean cotton 'lint'. The lint is compressed into bales and sent to a mill in Madhya Pradesh ready to be spun into yarn. This state-of-the-art facility has the best spinning equipment available, and is ISO (International Standards Organisation) 9002 certified. This certification relates to the quality of production as well as labour and environmental practices.

At the mill the lumpy lint is turned into a fuzzy cloud. This is called carding, and spaces each fibre equal distance from the other. Next the lint becomes roving. This is combed to align the fibres, separating out the longest and strongest from the weaker and shorter. These fall out from between the teeth of the comb and become noil - a material that makes ideal mattress stuffing. The combed roving is now spun into yarn.

Cloth is created by weaving crossways or 'weft' yarn and lengthways or 'warp' yarn on a loom. The warp is usually ‘sized’ (coated in a starch-based mixture) to strengthen it, making it easier to weave. The cloth is then finished – this removes the starch-based sizing, and cleans, softens and pre-shrinks the cloth. Pre-shrinking is a non-chemical process that involves compacting the fabric using rubber pads and steam. Pre-shrinking fabric allows the finished product to keep its original measurements after repeated washing and drying.

At this stage no chemical has come into contact with the cotton fibre, yarn and fabric.

Some of the fabric is now put through a hydrogen peroxide bleaching process to whiten it. A number of chemicals are used in the various steps of finishing, but we have tried to only use chemicals that are approved by certifying organisations.