Agriculture

The Fourth Environmental Assessment of the Australian Cotton Industry has made 16 new recommendations which would be assessed over ten years. It has also noted considerable progress made on the recommendations of the earlier assessment that was conducted in 2012.

The recent Earthsight report on cotton farming in Brazil generated a lot of heat and dust. But there's more to the issue than meets the eye, and the trials and tribulations of farming communities everywhere remain unnoticed and unacknowledged. A compelling perspective from the ground in Mexico.

A media toolkit for cotton targets well-meaning journalists to write stories from the ground. texfash.com talks about that and stresses on the need for cotton trade associations to be a more open source for data and stories from the ground.

As the demand for degrowth threatens to derail any initiatives to increase cotton production, the 37th International Cotton Conference Bremen in Germany from 20-22 March sounded a cautionary note against fostering competition with synthetic fibres.

A new initiative to help wool and cotton producers in the US is targeted at greenhouse gas reduction, emissions and sequestration, along with equity, social justice, including benefits for historically underserved groups.

An ongoing project in Australia is exploring the challenges faced by cotton growers associated with rising production costs, fluctuating yields, and regulatory constraints.

The golden fibre jute has lost much of its sheen in India and continues to deteriorate as its cultivation dropped by 20% in the last nine years. 

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has started the three-stage OECD Alignment Assessment which would help textile companies gain access to a due diligence process, enabling them to identify, assess, and mitigate adverse impacts throughout their supply chains. 

Textile Exchange has come up with the Regenerative Agriculture Outcome Framework, perhaps the first ever open-source, documented framework that lays out key indicators that make for a regenerative system, encouraging collaboration by including expectations for both brands and growers.

A first of its kind Small Farmer Atlas brought out by nonprofit Solidaridad is a comprehensive satisfaction survey detailing their inputs on issues ranging from prosperity and income, to sustainability, bargaining power and land use.