Some facts and figures on cotton

  • 11% of all pesticides used in farming worldwide are used on cotton crops.
  • 25% of all insecticides used in farming worldwide are used on cotton crops.
  • Only 3% of agricultural land worldwide is used for cotton crops.
  • For India up to 55% of agricultural land may be used for cotton production [Sharma, 2005].
  • Conventionally grown cotton is a water thirsty crop. On average a conventional producer of cotton requires 3000 cubic metres of water per acre more than the organic farmer.
  • On average, during an eight month growing period, 8 litres of pesticide will be sprayed on one acre of conventionally grown cotton.
  • Finally turning raw cotton into a finished product has strong environmental impacts as spinning, weaving, dyeing and bleaching all involve the use of toxic chemicals.

And some facts about organic cotton

  • 'Organic agriculture not only uses different agri-techniques, it is also a "moral ecology"' [Vos, 2002]
  • In West Africa (where some of the organic cotton used in the manufacture of Terramar Tees comes from) 100% of organic cotton is rain fed.
  • Organic cotton represents only 2% of world cotton production.
  • As of 2005 only 15 countries where growing organic cotton.
  • Production is concentrated in Turkey (1,750 tonnes of cotton fibre; 29% of total), USA (1,625 tonnes; 27%), India (1,000 tonnes; 17%), Peru (550 tonnes; 9%), Uganda (275 tonnes; 5%), Egypt, Senegal, and Tanzania (200 tons each; 3%) [Isabelle Haynes, 2005].

news News

Brown fixes green energy with nuclear
Greenpeace report poll fixing by govt

news Teatime

Two Bills for One
Relax with Bills Bailey and Connolly

blog Blog

Obama wins US election
...and Trump gets go ahead for environmental destruction