All you need to know about cotton, part 3: cotton seed and country of origin

We now know what conventional industrial and organic agricultural practices are about, and the most common types of cotton on the current market, but the real difference starts with the cotton seed and where it is grown. The third chapter of our cotton series will focus on seed types and the importance of the country where it is grown.

Which types of cotton seeds exist?

There are three types of cotton seeds, as well as seeds in general, available on the market today:

• Conventional seeds: these are developed using traditional plant breeding techniques, with selection based on desired traits.
• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): these seeds are created using conventional methods, but they have a specific trait—such as resistance to insects or herbicides—inserted into their genetic material.
• Hybrid seeds: these are produced through controlled pollination, resulting in “hybrid vigor.” This means the new plant expresses the desired traits more strongly than the simple sum of its parent plants. By default, hybrid seeds are GMO-free.

Candiani Denim has the exclusive use of Blue Seed cotton

Candiani Denim has exclusive access to Blue Seed cotton, a hybrid seed that is grown using organic or regenerative agricultural methods. It has been co-engineered with Gowan Seed Company, which owns and sells it.

Blue Seed cotton consistently produces strong, silky, and high-quality fibers and offers a 20-30% greater lint yield than similar varieties. Moreover, its increased resistance requires 15-20% less water to grow and reduces its exposure to pests, decreasing the amount of pesticides applied by at least 25%. Blue Seed cotton is also highly tolerant to soil-borne diseases, so it does not require fungicides or other chemicals, and its vigorous growth means fewer nitrogen fertilizers are necessary. Likewise, its earlier harvest time helps growers prevent pink bollworm infestations and avoid exposure to the possibility of early Autumn rainfall.

Blue Seed cotton combines Upland and Pima cotton, i.e., their specific robustness and superb fiber quality. It can then be grown in several microclimates and is a great rotational crop for farmers using regenerative agricultural practices. Long-staple cotton, such as Pima, is typical in arid regions and yields the finest, smoothest fibers for manufacturing premium products. Upland cotton is usually grown in more humid areas, has a medium to short fiber length, and is conventionally used to make denim and other fabrics with a low-count yarn. The quality of pure long-staple cotton would be lost in denim and would not give it its characteristic appearance.

Where is cotton grown?

Alongside the seed type and the methods used to cultivate it, the place where cotton is grown matters. Cotton is farmed in over 70 countries in many different settings and using several diverse methods in each step of its value chain. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the leading producers are China (29%) and India (19%), which combined amount to 48% of the world’s production, followed by Brazil (16%), the U.S. (12%), and Pakistan and Australia (4%).

Most cotton growers are still smallholders with fields of one hectare or less. That’s why the standard practice is to mix cotton from several small farms in the gin, making traceability complex. This opaque supply chain makes cotton vulnerable to variations in agricultural practices, respect for labor rights, and the use of hazardous chemicals. In some countries, there is still evidence of child or forced labor and frequent safety hazards. For instance, in many less-developed regions, growing is typically done by hand, and workers can hence come into direct contact with poisonous substances, which bring them illness or death.

The problems with GMOs

In countries with large industrial farms, such as Australia, Brazil, and the U.S., GMOs have become dominant in the market. As of 2018, 94% of U.S. cotton was genetically modified. 

However, GMOs have not proven to be as beneficial as expected. Pests and weeds have adapted, outsmarting scientists and the genetic modifications designed to protect cotton crops. This ongoing challenge forces the continual development of new strains of genetically modified cotton, leaving farmers at a disadvantage. They have invested in an expensive system that ultimately fails to provide the promised protection. Moreover, the application of toxic chemicals in the fields continues even if herbicide-resistant weeds have emerged. For instance, glyphosate, one of the most commonly used herbicides, is known to harm soil health and is suspected to be carcinogenic to humans.

GMOs also often lead to a decline in genetic diversity, and in countries that heavily depend on them, farmers face limited options, as only a few varieties are available. In the United States, for example, only two types of cotton are currently grown: Upland and Pima.

EU cotton

The situation with EU cotton is completely different. Probably, many people are still unaware, but cotton is also grown in southern Europe, where there is a suitable arid climate. The EU’s growing regulations on the use of chemicals and GMOs are among the strictest worldwide. They are nearly banned, with a few exceptions in some areas of Spain and Portugal, where maize is farmed, since governments are concerned that GMOs could cross-contaminate other plants and be harmful to people in some way.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has guided EU legislation since 1962, bringing Europe’s goals for social, environmental, and economic stability in agricultural and rural areas. A new CAP version was adopted in 2023, focusing on equitable incomes for farmers, climate change action, environmental care, and biodiversity preservation.

These specific actions reduced the EU’s water intensity by 12% between 2005 and 2016. The risk from pesticide use across the EU is also estimated to have decreased by approximately 17% compared to the average of the period between 2011 and 2013. According to the European Environment Agency, these trends are expected to continue.

Candiani Denim decided that sourcing as close to home as possible is the safest thing to do to reduce the complexity of the cotton supply chain, emissions, and, consequently, air pollution, and the risk of being victims of bogus sustainability claims. We aim to source 50% (around 5,000 tons) of the cotton we need from EU organic or regenerative farms by the end of 2025. The majority will be our own Blue Seed variety.