financial year 2015–16 total production of cotton was 338 hundred thousand bales
(1 Indian bale = 170 kg), out of which 20% was exported [1]. Environmental
sustainability of cotton fibres production has gained more and more attention from
both suppliers and consumers in recent years due to the associated resources
consumption and pollutant emissions. There are mainly three types of cotton cultivation practices: Conventional, Organic and BCI cotton seed farming.
Conventional Cotton farming is the process of growing cotton with use of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, defoliants, fertilizers, and lot of water. Many conventional systems use rain fed water instead irrigation thus conserving surface and
groundwater and also limiting the use of agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides,
and machinery) [3]. Organic cotton farming is done without use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers and the only additives comes in the form of manures,
while soil quality is controlled by crop rotation. The impact on the environment is
therefore reduced drastically, producing clean and safe cotton while creating a
sustainable cycle [4]. It is best suited for small and marginal farms and Arvind
Limited is working closely with the farmers of Akola in the Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra to grow organic cotton; initiative has helped to improve the livelihood
of the farmers by increasing their per-acre income. BCI is a concept to grow cotton
with judicious use of water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This technique
works well in fertile and irrigated regions where organic farming is not economically viable. Since 2010, Arvind as implementation partners of BCI in India have
been working with over four thousand farmers in the Akola region covering over
15,815 ha of farmland. In 2014, the total production of BCI cotton was 283,000 MT
on 456,000 ha. Better Cotton is produced in ten states of India and year-on-year
figures for BCI Farmers, Better Cotton lint produced, and hectares under cultivation
have increased [5]. Several studies based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) [6] have
been done on the environmental footprint of cotton cultivation which includes
Murugesh and Selvadass [7], Khabbaz et al. [8], Barnes [9], Cotton Incorporated
[10], Textile Exchange and PE International [4], Cotton Made in Africa [3].
Conventional seed cotton fibres have greater environmental impacts compared to
the organic cotton fibres [7] and irrigation has the highest contribution for both
conventional and organic seed cotton fibres [7]. Field emissions and fertilizers
manufacturing contribute significantly to most of the environmental impacts categories [Global Warming Potential (GWP), Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), and
Primary Energy Demand (PED)] [9]. Cotton Incorporated, a pioneer research and
marketing company, has done an LCA of cotton fibres with the help of thinkstep
AG (former PE International) [10]. The foreground data have been collected from
three countries U.S., China, and India; representing 67% of the world cotton fibres
production. GWP and PED for 1 kg of cotton fibres were estimated to be 15 MJ
and 0.268 kg CO 2 eq. According to other literature references, cotton fibres production induces an energy consumption of 46.40 MJ per kg produced [8] to
67.1 MJ/kg [11].
68
P. Shah et al.
(1 Indian bale = 170 kg), out of which 20% was exported [1]. Environmental
sustainability of cotton fibres production has gained more and more attention from
both suppliers and consumers in recent years due to the associated resources
consumption and pollutant emissions. There are mainly three types of cotton cultivation practices: Conventional, Organic and BCI cotton seed farming.
Conventional Cotton farming is the process of growing cotton with use of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, defoliants, fertilizers, and lot of water. Many conventional systems use rain fed water instead irrigation thus conserving surface and
groundwater and also limiting the use of agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides,
and machinery) [3]. Organic cotton farming is done without use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers and the only additives comes in the form of manures,
while soil quality is controlled by crop rotation. The impact on the environment is
therefore reduced drastically, producing clean and safe cotton while creating a
sustainable cycle [4]. It is best suited for small and marginal farms and Arvind
Limited is working closely with the farmers of Akola in the Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra to grow organic cotton; initiative has helped to improve the livelihood
of the farmers by increasing their per-acre income. BCI is a concept to grow cotton
with judicious use of water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This technique
works well in fertile and irrigated regions where organic farming is not economically viable. Since 2010, Arvind as implementation partners of BCI in India have
been working with over four thousand farmers in the Akola region covering over
15,815 ha of farmland. In 2014, the total production of BCI cotton was 283,000 MT
on 456,000 ha. Better Cotton is produced in ten states of India and year-on-year
figures for BCI Farmers, Better Cotton lint produced, and hectares under cultivation
have increased [5]. Several studies based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) [6] have
been done on the environmental footprint of cotton cultivation which includes
Murugesh and Selvadass [7], Khabbaz et al. [8], Barnes [9], Cotton Incorporated
[10], Textile Exchange and PE International [4], Cotton Made in Africa [3].
Conventional seed cotton fibres have greater environmental impacts compared to
the organic cotton fibres [7] and irrigation has the highest contribution for both
conventional and organic seed cotton fibres [7]. Field emissions and fertilizers
manufacturing contribute significantly to most of the environmental impacts categories [Global Warming Potential (GWP), Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), and
Primary Energy Demand (PED)] [9]. Cotton Incorporated, a pioneer research and
marketing company, has done an LCA of cotton fibres with the help of thinkstep
AG (former PE International) [10]. The foreground data have been collected from
three countries U.S., China, and India; representing 67% of the world cotton fibres
production. GWP and PED for 1 kg of cotton fibres were estimated to be 15 MJ
and 0.268 kg CO 2 eq. According to other literature references, cotton fibres production induces an energy consumption of 46.40 MJ per kg produced [8] to
67.1 MJ/kg [11].
68
P. Shah et al.