Industry News
Better Cotton India impact report indicates clear positive trends
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etter Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, has today published its 2023 India Impact Report, which highlights significant field-level progress in reducing pesticide and water use, in addition to improvements on farmer livelihoods and equality.
The India Impact Report charts the performance of Indian cotton farmers in the Better Cotton Programme from the 2014/15 season through to the 2021/22 season – exploring the tangible benefits of more sustainable cotton production for both people and the planet.
The report explores a variety of facets of Better Cotton production, from resource utilisation and its impact on farms and the environment, to the makeup of farming communities and their economic outlook. Since the launch of Better Cotton Programme in India in 2011, the organisation’s network of farmers has expanded from tens of thousands to almost one million.
The report shows a dramatic reduction in the use of pesticides and highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) by Better Cotton Farmers across India. From the 2014-17 seasons – used as a three-season average – to the 2021/22 season, overall pesticide use reduced by 53% as a result of the adoption of capacity strengthening trainings on an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the delivery of effective awareness campaigns. Specifically, the number of farmers using HHPs was cut from 64% to 10%, whilst those using Monocrotophos – a pesticide classed as highly toxic by the World Health
Organisation – dropped from 41% to just 2%.Water usage for irrigation was reduced by 29% between the baseline years and the 2021/22 season. Nitrogen application – which drives greenhouse gas emissions in cotton production when used excessively – decreased by 6% per hectare. On farmer livelihoods, results indicator data between the 2014-15 to 2021-22 cotton seasons has shown that total costs per hectare (excluding land renting) decreased by 15.6% in 2021-22 compared to the three-season average, driven by expense reductions for land preparation and fertiliser expenses. In 2021, Better Cotton Farmers also had an average cotton lint yield per hectare of 650kg — 200kg per hectare more than the national average. On women in cotton, meanwhile, there has been an overall increase in the number of women Better Cotton Field Staff across India. In the 2019-20 cotton season, around 10% of Field Facilitators were women, rising to over 25% in the 2022-23 cotton season.
As the organisation turns its focus from expansion to deepening impact, the report serves to celebrate progress and identify development gaps. Part of Better Cotton’s role is to highlight needs for improvement and where continued engagement can make a positive difference for the communities growing cotton in India. It also represents a departure from the organisation’s past results reporting methodology – through which Better Cotton Farmers were compared with non-Better Cotton Farmers – in that the operations of Better Cotton Farmers are monitored over time to assess year-on-year progress.
New ‘Sun-Safe Indicator’ from MiRiCal Boosting visibility in low-light conditions is crucial for Hi-Vis clothing wearers. Ensuring continued compliance with ISO 20471 for luminance and chromaticity standards is a challenge.
When a garment is new, conformity will have been established by the manufacturer and
labelling, supported by certification, will confirm it. But continued exposure to sunlight will progressively reduce the luminance and chromaticity and short of testing the garment on a regular basis, how else can you be expected to ensure that the garment remains compliant? Sun-Safe Indicator is an innovative solution for maintaining compliance with a simple visual cue. No more guesswork or expensive testing is needed! How does it work?
Sun-Safe Indicator incorporates specially developed inks that fade at a rate similar to the Hi- Vis fabric, whether yellow, orange or red, indicating when it’s time to replace the garment.
The indicator cleverly reads “un-Safe” when it’s time for a new garment. Don’t take our word for it, it has been fully tested at an independent laboratory in the UK.
Don’t miss out on the extra security and peace of mind that Sun-Safe Indicator provides. It can be applied at any stage in the production process - manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer, with just a conventional heat press. Embrace this cutting-edge solution for Hi-Vis clothing providers, Health & Safety Managers, and wearers alike!
A
very Dennison invited Intertextile 2023 attendees to discover the potential of bridging the physical and digital realms with advanced digital identification solutions for apparel. Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics 2023 (28-30 August) took place at The National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, and is one of the biggest and most comprehensive apparel fabric and accessories exhibitions in the world. Through demonstrations of Avery
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Avery Dennison showcases digital ID innovations to textile industry Dennison’s
apparel portfolio, which include Embelex,
Factory Solutions (including on-demand manufacturing), and Digital Solutions, the company is
showcasing how
its technology contributes to a more sustainable future for textiles on a global scale. Items displayed will include a Connected Garment, Swijin performance wear embedded with digitally connected heat transfer labels, a digitally-connected BYBORRE Scarf, and Transnomadica vintage jeans embedded with digitally- connected printed fabric labels. Embelex Agility HD heat transfers for sports jerseys, which can be digitally enabled, will also be on show.
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