International Cotton Advisory Committee

Latin American cotton operates across a wide spectrum, yet rarely as a coherent regional bloc. Argentina exemplifies this tension: a significant cotton producer whose structural fragmentation mirrors the wider regional condition. José Luis Spontón, researcher at INTA's Reconquista Experimental Research Station (EEA Reconquista), examines what is holding the sector back and what associative models from Brazil and Paraguay suggest about the path forward.

The pressures reshaping cotton cultivation across Latin America are real, but they do not fall evenly. Scale, technology access and market proximity determine which producers absorb disruption and which do not. Nelson Dias Suassuna, senior researcher at Embrapa, draws a clear line between the sector's two operating realities and the distinct futures each one faces.

Ethiopia’s cotton sector, once a pillar of African textile production, is being re-energised through renewed coordination between farmers, industry, and policymakers. At the centre of these efforts is Tsegaye Abebe, Executive Director of the Ethiopian Cotton Association (ECA), who outlines how the country can convert its vast but underutilised cotton potential into a sustainable and competitive national asset.

A groundbreaking study by the International Cotton Advisory Committee challenges the long-held perception of cotton as excessively water-intensive, revealing that focusing on total water use—including natural rainwater—distorts understanding of the crop's environmental impact. The research emphasises optimising irrigation practices for genuine water conservation.

Aimed to empower smallholder farmers, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) and International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) have launched a project to promote carbon credits in African cotton production.

The cotton misinformation problem needs to be seen in the light of today’s society where fake news thrives and wreaks havoc. It’s not difficult to find out how the cotton myths came into being. It’s also not difficult to find out who have been flinging and slinging these falsehoods. Cotton needs to be more assertive, and possibly a bit aggressive too. texfash tries to join some dots.

Cotton is fraught with its own problems (ranging from climate risks and disruptions to trade wars) and polyester comes with its own driving forces (from costs to consumer preference). There are relatively lesser elements that are not deliberated as much in the public domain as they should be. For instance, why are the myths about cotton allowed to flourish? texfash looks at the story behind some numbers crunched out in the public domain.

The importance of the cotton plant in the fashion industry in tackling climate change is often under a shadow. Not many are aware that it takes planet-warming gases out of our atmosphere and sequesters them in its biomass, giving it a net negative carbon footprint. As Mumbai gears up for the opening of the International Cotton Advisory Committee’s 81st Plenary Meeting, 2–5 December, learn more about this wonder raw material. 

The much-awaited Cotton Data Book 2022 just released by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) incorporates a lot more information than the last edition.