World Cotton Day 2023- Theme, Importance, History & More

The Union Textiles Ministry celebrated World Cotton Day 2023 on October 7 by hosting a conference focused on “Enhancing the Quality and Productivity of Indian Cotton through Policy, Innovation and Technology Upgradation”.

The conference was organized in collaboration with the EU-Resource Efficiency Initiative, an initiative of Cotton Corporation of India Limited (CCI) and GIZ.

Cotton Corporation of India Limited launches BITS:

• To ensure that the quality, variety, origin and other important parameters of cotton are transparent to both Indian and international buyers, CCI launched ‘Bale Identification and Traceability System’ (BITS) using block chain technology.
• From now on, every cotton bale through BITS has a QRcode which can easily track the quality information of the respective cotton including its origin, processing factory, storage details and time stamp.

Why celebrate World Cotton Day?

• ‘World Cotton Day’ is celebrated every year on 7 October to highlight the importance of cotton globally. The main objective of celebrating World Cotton Day is to give maximum publicity to the production of cotton, the products made from it and to understand the technology of cotton.

The Theme of World Cotton Day 2023:

• The theme of the third official UN World Cotton Day – ‘Making cotton fair and sustainable for all: From Farm to Fashion’.
• This theme, set by the United Nations, seeks to raise the visibility of the cotton sector and awareness of its important role in economic development, international trade and poverty alleviation.

Importance of World Cotton Day:

• Cotton is produced on a large scale not only in India but all over the world. Cotton cloth is one of the most used fabrics in the world.
• According to the United Nations, this natural textile is a life-changing product worldwide, supporting 32 million producers and benefiting more than 100 million families in 80 countries across 5 continents.
• The cotton industry is also a source of employment and income for many villagers and labourers, including women.

Global status of cotton:

• At present India ranks first in the field of cotton production. Here, not only cotton is cultivated but its production and related industries also support the livelihood of millions of people.
• According to United Nations data, about 62 lakh tonnes of cotton is produced in India every year. Which is a total of 38 percent of the entire world's cotton production. Whereas China ranks second in cotton production.

History of World Cotton Day:

• In 2012, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali – the four main cotton producers in sub-Saharan Africa – submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organization to celebrate World Cotton Day.
• The WTO hosted the first World Cotton Day celebration in 2019 as an initiative following a proposal by Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.
• The first World Cotton Day celebration, sponsored by the WTO, also included the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Cotton:

• Cotton is essentially a Kharif crop and is a drought-resistant crop which is ideal for dry climates.
• It takes about 6 to 8 months to be completely ready.
• 2.1% of the world's cultivable land is under cotton and it contributes 27% of the world's textile requirements.
• Geographical conditions for cotton production:
  • Temperature: 21-30 degrees Celsius.
  • Rainfall: 50-100 cm.
  • Type of soil: Black cotton soil with good drainage, the soil of the Deccan plateau is considered most suitable for this.
  • There are four cultivated species of cotton:- Gossypium arboreum, G. Herbacem, G. hirsutum and G. barbadense.

• BT Cotton: 

  • It is a genetically modified organism or genetically modified insect-resistant variety of cotton.
• Products of cotton: cloth, fibre, oil and animal feed.
• Top three cotton-producing countries globally: India > China > United States.
• The top cotton producing states in India are: Gujarat > Maharashtra > Telangana > Andhra Pradesh > Rajasthan.