AWI expects weak wool demand for another four months
15/06/2020
He said AWI was watching closely to see which markets recover fastest. He said he thought China in particular has the potential to recover most quickly . He added: “This would be great news due to the size of its economy and its importance for Australian wool as both a big consuming and processing market.”
Germany and the Nordic countries which he said seemed to have “weathered the virus better than many”, also gave some scope for optimism, Mr McCullough said. He added: “While the US has been badly hit by the virus, it will be interesting to see if it can recover as quickly as it did coming out of the global financial crisis. Unfortunately, two of our biggest markets, the UK and Italy, have been badly hit by the virus and each had to impose severe lockdowns, which has badly reduced consumer spending there.”
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, the Fairtrade Foundation has launched a three-year programme in India to grow non-genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds, which it said would benefit the environment and farmers’ health, as well as producing cotton that will command a higher price.
Nearly two-thirds of all cotton grown worldwide is now GM, the foundation said, which means that it is difficult for farmers to have access to non-GM seed varieties. However, if farmers want to produce cotton for the fairtrade or organic cotton segments of the market, avoiding GM is essential.
With funding from TRAID, a UK-based charity that strives to tackle clothing waste, Fairtrade is working in partnership with knitted fabric manufacturer Pratibha Syntex to pioneer the seeds project.
The objective is to develop new non-GM hybrids that have the exact cotton fibre parameters that the fashion and textile industry needs. The resulting seeds will be commercially produced and made available to farmers, allowing them to have more choice over how they farm.
An initial pilot phase produced what the Fairtrade Foundation has referred to as strong results. Around 1,500 cotton farmers were given access to 9,200 organic seed packets, produced by their own co-operative. Several seasons on and the farmers have produced their own packaged seeds for sale, which have been developed with input from the project’s ‘star’ members who have trialled the seeds on their own farms.
These seeds are on sale at a price 30% cheaper than it costs for farmers buy GM seeds. The seeds have been bred to be pest-resistant, drought-tolerant and to grow plants that will be easy to harvest. Senior cotton and textiles lead at the Fairtrade Foundation, Subindu Garkhel, said on announcing the programme: “Having access to non-GM seeds will bring all the environmental and health benefits of growing organic cotton, plus a higher price, as the farmers can access the high-value Fairtrade markets with their cotton. By avoiding toxic pesticides, farmers can avoid health problems (including deaths) common in non-organic cotton production. It also reduces their production costs.”
GM seeds that are available to farmers are bred for high-input agriculture, the foundation said, which means farmers need to use expensive synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation. In India alone there is a 95% monopoly on the seed market, making it almost impossible for small-scale farmer who want to cultivate fairtrade or organic cotton to source non-GM seeds.
TRAID chief executive, Maria Chenoweth, commented: “Increasing organic cotton production makes a significant contribution to reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry, while reducing the use of hazardous pesticides.”
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