Agricultural Biodiversity

Generally speaking, cotton that is grown without the use of insecticide, pesticide or chemical fertilizers is called organic cotton. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pesticide poisoning is the reason for 20,000 thousand deaths in developing countries every year and a large number of these are from cotton farming. Organic cotton production involves the use of environment friendly methods. It is also economical, and socially sustainable (citation needed) and does not use agrochemicals and artificial fertilizers. What organic agriculture uses is crop rotation, the growing of different crops than cotton in alternative years. Organic agriculture uses natural enemies to suppress harmful insects instead of spraying the cotton with pesticides.

Production of organic cotton takes place in agricultural systems that are organic. In such organic systems establishes standards for the production of food and fiber are present. Organic agriculture does not allow the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers, as well as organisms that are genetically modified.

The building of systems that have biological diversity, replenishing and maintaning fertility of the soil, and the promotion a healthy environment are the main objectives of an organic agricultural system like organic cotton farming. It is more expensive to produce. Organic cotton production is more expensive than usual methods. Synthetic chemicals are not used, so pollution caused due to them is eliminated, but other issues, run-off in particular and additional use of fossil fuels may still be present.

In order to cultivate cotton there is a requirement of a long period of time with frost, lot of sunshine, and a moderate rainfall, usually from 600 to 1200 mm. Fairly heavy soils is also a requirement, although the soil does not need to be rich in nutrients. These conditions are generally present within the seasonally dry tropics and subtropics in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but a large percentage of the cotton that we use today is grown in areas with less rainfall that obtain the water from irrigation.

For a given year, production of the crop usually starts soon after harvesting the preceding autumn. In the Northern hemisphere spring planting time varies from the beginning of February to the beginning of June. The South Plains in the USA is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world. The rainfall is not sufficient and it is heavily dependent on irrigation water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer.

Cotton requires a lot of water to grow, and as water resources shrink around the world, economies that depend on it face difficulties and conflict, and also potential environmental problems. For example, the cultivation of cotton has led to desertification in areas of Uzbekistan, a country which relies heavily on cotton export.