World Cotton Day 2021: Why Cotton Is So Important In Life

Objective of World Cotton Day

• The main objective of celebrating as World Cotton Day is to give exposure and recognition to cotton and all its stakeholders in production, transformation and trade.
• Connecting donors and beneficiaries and strengthening development assistance for cotton.
• To seek new collaborations with the private sector and investors for cotton-related industries and production in developing countries.
• Promoting technological development and promoting further research and development on cotton.
• World Cotton Day will work to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world because cotton is important for less developed, developing and developed economies around the world.
• This day will celebrate the many benefits of cotton by its properties, as a natural fiber, for the benefits that people get from trade and consumption.

World Cotton Day Program: Highlights

• The launch event of this day is an important occasion for members, the private sector and the international development community to share knowledge and showcase activities and products related to cotton.
• There will also be a photo contest to encourage photographers from around the world to send a strong message about the importance of the cotton value chain.
• There will also be a fashion show which will take place in Africa to showcase cotton fashions and designers from different parts of the world.

Significance of the Day

World Cotton Day provides a common platform for the international community and the private sector to share knowledge and showcase activities and products related to cotton. World Cotton Day will be celebrated every year across the world. The day will host events that highlight cotton farmers, processors, researchers and businesses.

World Cotton Day 2021: Theme

The theme for World Cotton Day 2021 is “Cotton for Good”. The theme reflects the wonderful things that cotton brings to our lives including employment in least-developed countries, use of natural fibres, versatile uses of the cotton plants, protecting the environment from plastic pollution, etc.

Facts about Cotton on World Cotton Day 2021

• It is a seed-hair fibre of various species of plants of the genus Gossypium, belonging to the hibiscus, or mallow family.
• The fabric of cotton is durable and resistant to abrasion.
• Cotton accepts various dyes, is usually washable, and relatively at high temperatures can be ironed.
• Cotton clothes are comfortable to wear as it absorbs and releases moisture quickly.
• Cotton is renewable and bio-degradable. It is the most sustainable raw material for the textile industry.
• India is one of the largest producers of cotton in the world accounting for about 26% of the world cotton production.
• India had launched the Cotton Technology Assistance Program
• India operated the Cotton Technology Assistance Program (TAP) from 2012 to 2018. It included six African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda).

Smriti Zubin Irani, who was then the Union Minister of Textiles, had announced the second phase of the Cotton Technology Assistance Program (TAP) for Africa at the Cotton Summit in Geneva. The second phase will be of five years.

The program’s coverage will be expanded to include five more countries – Mali, Ghana, Togo, Zambia and Tanzania. The number of countries that had joined the Cotton Technology Assistance Program (TAP) had gone up to 11.

World Cotton Day 2021: Quotes in English

• Beautiful fabrics last; synthetics don’t. Certain fabrics, such as linen or cotton, develop their own character over time.
• Cotton was a force of nature. There’s poetry to it, hoeing and growing cotton.
• Half the world does not know the joys of wearing cotton underwear.
• Loose, breathable fabrics are great… choose brands that have soft blazers such as loose linen or cotton – it doesn’t have to be a structured blazer with shoulder pads.
• I loved to get all dusty and ride horses and plant potatoes and cotton.
• I have to have the cotton candy shipped in.
• I was never a chiffon and satin person. I am always a cotton person. It’s just the way I am.
• My childhood home backed onto wheat and cotton fields.

Why Cotton is so important?

Cotton is produced all over the world. One ton of cotton provides employment to an average of five people every year. Cotton is a drought-resistant crop. It is ideal for dry climate. It occupies only 2.1 percent of the world’s arable land and yet it meets 27 percent of the world’s clothing requirement. In addition to its fiber used in textiles and apparel, food products are also derived from cotton.