India Leads World in Organic Cotton Production

By Jim.Robinson|February 24, 2010

According to the fourth annual “Farm and Fiber Report 2009” released this month by the non-profit Organic Exchange, organic cotton was grown in 22 countries worldwide last year. India was the top producer of organic cotton, followed (in order of rank) by Turkey, Syria, Tanzania, China, United States, Uganda, Peru, Egypt and Burkina Faso. Approximately 220,000 farmers grew the fiber.

The report states that organic cotton production grew by 20 percent over 2007/08 to 175,113 metric tons (802,599 bales) grown on 625,000 acres (253,000 hectares). Organic cotton now represents 0.76 percent of global cotton production.

The report also states that due to the recent economic downturn and decline in demand for cotton products, unsold stocks which represent between 17 and 22 percent of production (some 30,000 to 35,000 tons, or 137,789 to 160,754 bales) of organic cotton has yet to find buyers.

For more information, go to www.organicexchange.org.