US firms to source organic cotton from agency areas

Kurupam: After cashew, mangoes, vegetables and certain other products, it is now the turn of cotton to be sourced from the agency areas of Visakhapatnam for export. The organic cotton being produced in the areas will soon be used by foreign companies that make branded T-shirts and other clothing items for multinational companies, which sell their products in countries across the globe.

Of course, some Indians may not be conscious about the need to go for organic products. But, in most of the developed countries, people are much interested in natural products. In keeping with this trend, an entrepreneur of the textile industry, Marchi Zaroff of USA, recently visited the agency areas of this district, particularly areas where cotton is grown organically.

She visited Buddem Kharja, Kothavalasa and Dorajammu of G.L.Puram mandal, where she interacted with farmers and got to know the farming procedures. She evinced interest in buying organically produced cotton and appeared inclined to spend crores of rupees to purchase such cotton on a regular basis.

“If cotton is produced without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides, we can pay much more money than what the farmers would get by producing the same using chemicals. Developed countries are interested in such raw material.

We are searching for such types of cotton. The textile industry is now expecting cotton produced in traditional ways using only cattle manure and green manure. Now, we can produce finished products with the cotton which is going to be exported from here,” she observed. She is ready to give good money to farmers who produce cotton in natural ways honestly.

“If substantial number of farmers are interested in producing cotton in zero-budget natural farming mode, it will be viable for me to come here and purchase the cotton,” she said. Later, she visited Jattu Trust and interacted with Dr.D.Parinaidu, founder of the trust, and discussed various issues, including natural farming and global warming.

Marchi Zaroff, along with two entrepreneurs viz. Anil Kumar and Sarath of Kadapa district, is planning to procure huge quantities of cotton produced in natural way and export it to the US, after processing the raw material at Tirupur in Tamil Nadu. Their aim is to bring a minimum of 3,000 farmers into this natural cotton farming mode state-wide and help them produce as much cotton as they can. Besides, they want to minimize the expenditure of the farmers and the use of water.

By Koppara Gandhi