Organic versus conventional cotton

Organic agriculture protects the health of people and the planet by reducing the overall exposure to toxic chemicals form synthetic pesticides that are associated with health consequences, from asthma to cancer. 

CONVENTIONAL COTTON

Only 3% of all farmland worldwide is under cotton, but 20% of chemical pesticides and 22% of all insecticides are sprayed on cotton. That means that 8 times more pesticide is used on one hectare of conventional cotton, than on a hectare of an average food crop. 

Pests exposed to synthetic pesticides build up resistance to them. Each year, farmers have to buy more and more pesticide to keep pest numbers down to keep growing the same amount of cotton.

Increased use of pesticides increases production costs. Many farmers are forced into a spiral of debt. In parts of India agricultural chemicals take up 60% of the farmer's production budget. 

Many chemicals used in cotton farming are acutely toxic. At least three of the chemicals used in cotton production are on the 'dirty dozen' - so dangerous that 120 countries agreed to ban them, but so far this hasn't happened. 

The World Trade Organization estimates that 20,000 deaths and three million chronic health problems each year are the result of the use of agricultural pesticides. 

Most cotton is heavily irrigated. Years of rapid evaporation from semi-desert soils have left salt residues, making land unfertile. 

ORGANIC COTTON

Organic cotton production uses none of the harmful chemical pesticides used to produce conventional cotton. 

Organic cotton farmers use natural pesticides usually containing a mixture of chili, garlic an soap. This keeps pests off the crops, but does not destroy their natural predators - which survive to control their number naturally. 

Another method used is intercropping, where secondary crops are grown between and around small plots of cotton. These create a natural barrier against the cotton pests. These secondary crops may also provide another cash crop or food for the farmers, a useful hedge against a poor cotton harvest. 

These farming methods promote biodiversity - organic cotton fields contain a significantly higher number of insects species, especially those that are beneficial. 

Organic cotton is largely rain-fed - the soils are fertilized with natural organic materials, which help to give the soil higher humus content - making it better able to retain moisture and its fertility.