THE production of organic cotton amounts to 6,000 tons of fibre annually, or about 0.03 per cent of the global production. Turkey produces the most at 29 per cent with the US at 27 per cent, and India 17 per cent. Its demand is the highest in Europe (about 3,500 tons or 58 per cent of the total) and the US (about 2,000 tons or 33 per cent).

The growing of organic cotton with its inherent challenges and without using the conventional pesticides and commercial fertilizers is demanding.

The major concerns are the usage of cultural practices, natural fertilizers, and biological controls rather than the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The availability of organic seed from the present stock also needs attention. In the absence of any such seed, conventional seeds may be used as long as it is not derived from the genetically modified plants.

To replace commercial fertilizers, soil fertility can be maintained by manipulating mineral levels built up through the application of animal manure, compost, and deep-rooted cover crops that bring up nutrients from deep within the soil.

In addition to producing nitrogen, cover crops often provide excellent habitat for predatory and parasitic insects and spiders. Some good insectary plants often used as cover crops include alfalfa, red clover, white clover, mustards, and cowpeas. Plant nutrition is supplemented with foliar fertilization in some situations.

The inclusion of forage legumes, in particular, may serve as the primary source of nitrogen for subsequent crops.

Pesticides are an integral part of non-organic cotton production, though many non-chemical control methods of weeds and insect pest are being advocated, but nothing has met with absolute success.

Costs associated with these methods can vary from place to place depending upon the nature of labour and machine involved. Ecologically based insect pests management via improving the soil fertility to enable the plant to tolerate their incidence has been practiced mostly in context of diseases of many crops.

It is speculated that organic fertilizers provide the bound nitrogen to plant making them less susceptible to insect pests. A recent study on six cotton varieties that were sown under organic fertilization revealed that there were no significant difference in the infestation of sucking and chewing insect pests, viz., jassid, whitefly and thrips and Spotted and American bollworms and same number of sprays, as in cotton under inorganic fertilizers, were applied for their control. The site for such studies should be selected keeping in view the past history of land utilization.

Weed control options are limited to those done without synthetic herbicides. The control of it-sit weed by inter–row cultivation and herbicides had non-significant difference between two practices.

Another study has demonstrated that increasing levels of nitrogen fertilizer (200kg/acre) had increased densities of both adult and immature whiteflies during their peak population growth on cotton.

In many fields, it has also been observed that cotton can be grown successfully without much need of inorganic fertilizers, if followed by wheat or bersseem. The yield obtained in these fields averaged 1,000–1,200kg per acre. There is a common connotation of taking organic cotton, as Bt cotton, which is genetically modified crop.

Bt cotton generally allows less number of sprays (average three) for the control of insect pests especially the bollworms. However, yield in Bt cotton fields had 400kg less yield than the non-genetically modified cotton. The successful production of organic cotton, thus, rests on the fertilization and insect pest control in the present scene of the cotton production.

The following are suggestion to initiate a programme on organic cotton, which is needed for international market and has been identified by Export Promotion Bureau as well recently.

* Presently arid region (Layyah, Bhakkar) in Punjab have less insect prevalence and can be exploited for the production of the organic cotton.

* Avoid planting large expanses of the crop, must be surrounded by other crops. Besides cotton, other bollworm hosts include beans, maize, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, peppers, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and tomatoes.

* Use of the plant chemicals (neem, tobacco decoction etc.) or rosin compounds for the sucking insect pests and insect-disease causing organisms should be taken into consideration.

Nevertheless, low temperature and high humidity favours the pathogenesis of these organisms, which could be a limiting factor in the effectiveness of these organisms. Under these circumstances, heat tolerant insect pathogens though genetic engineering should be produced.

* Local strains of microbes can be made available for the control of bollworms. Pheromones of the spotted bollworms have been tried earlier and these can be potential candidate not only for monitoring but also can be used to reduce the infestation levels.

* Natural enemies can be an alternative in the absence of organic pesticides. Though many biopesticides are available from different sources (the PCSIR and the HEJ Institute of chemistry), but their efficacy should be investigated in these areas on war footing basis.

* Besides cotton, other bollworm hosts include alfalfa, beans, corn, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, peppers, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and tomatoes.

* As mentioned, yield will fetch price premium, which farmer will get, to offset the high production cost (including production, application and establishment). Organic cotton farmers usually sell either to a mill or garment manufacturer. It is usually up to the farmer to negotiate the price with his buyer. Buyers of organic cotton will be limited in the beginning as neighbouring countries like India, China and central Asia states are already in the market.

* Prospective growers should be aware that growing organic cotton is not quite the lucrative proposition it sounds and that there may be more money made, and less risk involved, in growing other crops instead.