World Cotton Day’ 2025

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance

Why in News?

The Union Minister of Textiles and Union Minister of State for Textiles and External Affairs attended the celebration of World Cotton Day 2025 at New Delhi.

World Cotton Day – 7^th October.
First celebrated on - October 7, 2019, at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
Aim - To symbolize cotton’s role in weaving together communities, cultures, and economies around the world.
Event, 2025
- Jointly hosted by - The Republic of Chad, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
- Theme,2025 - “The Fabric of Our Lives”.

World Cotton Day, 2025 celebration in India

Jointly organized by - The Ministry of Textiles and Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
Theme, 2025 - “Cotton 2040: Technology, Climate & Competitiveness.”
Government’s commitments - To achieve the USD 350 billion textile sector target by 2030, including USD 100 billion in exports and moving towards carbon neutrality.

India accounts for 40% of the world’s cotton area and the productivity is around 450 kg per hectare. Cotton sector supports 6 million farmers and provides employment to over 45 million people across the value chain.

Related Government Initiatives
Kasturi Cotton Bharat
- It is an initiative by the Government of India, the Cotton Corporation of India, and various textile industry bodies to brand and certify premium Indian cotton.
- The program focuses on traceability, sustainability, and quality to enhance the competitiveness and global image of Indian cotton.
- It has the potential to contribute immensely to the ‘5F’ (farm-fibre-factory-fashion-foreign) vision of the Government.
Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) –
- It is a flagship credit-linked subsidy program by the Ministry of Textiles, designed to modernize the country's textile industry.
- It provided financial assistance for textile units to upgrade their manufacturing technology and machinery.
PM MITRA -
- PM MITRA stands for PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks.
- To boost India's textile industry by creating integrated, world-class industrial infrastructure.
National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) - It is a flagship initiative by the Ministry of Textiles.
The mission aims to increase the penetration level of technical textiles within the country and boost innovation, market development, and exports in the sector.

Types of organic and environment friendly cotton varieties

Organic cotton – It is grown with a low environmental impact, avoiding toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilisers.
Recycled cotton - It is produced from waste cotton materials, such as factory scraps (pre-consumer) and discarded clothes (post-consumer).
These materials are then shredded, cleaned, and re-spun into new yarn to create fresh fabric.
Kala cotton - It is also another type of sustainable cotton, which is grown in the region of Kutch in Gujarat.
This unique, ancient, and purely organic variety of cotton is a rain-fed crop, meaning it relies solely on rainwater and is cultivated without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilisers.
Kandu cotton - From Karnataka is naturally brown-coloured and is sustainably farmed, rain-fed, and pesticide-free, emphasising a connection to the earth.
Ponduru cotton - Refers to a type of Khadi (handspun and handwoven cotton) produced in the village of Ponduru, Andhra Pradesh.
It is made from a rare, indigenous, and organic short-staple hill cotton that requires no chemicals and is spun and woven by hand using traditional methods.

References

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