Campaign to revive indigenous cotton from TN

When sustainability and slow fashion became global trends, locally sourced products got due attention. While many international brands started using local raw materials supporting their artisans, back in India, a few Indian brands didn’t make use of the locally grown cotton varieties. To revive indigenous cotton varieties and its cultivation in various parts of the country, biotechnologist Swaminathan Vaithilingam initiated a project called Kaskom.

India has a 5,000-year-old history of desi cotton and Kaskom is trying to bring it back through its various campaigns. Apart from this, Swaminathan and his team of farmers-weavers are also exploring weaving patterns that are specific to Tamil Nadu. “If we can produce and promote hand-woven fabrics, it would financially help the weavers and artisans. The reason why many are not into hand-woven products is that there are no proper channels to market their products,” says Swaminathan.

What’s interesting about the Kaskom project is that instead of farming cotton in acres of land, cotton will be produced through organic farming methods. For this, Swaminathan has collaborated with farmers of rainfed tracts where they can grow cotton along with other food crops. “Until 2002, India cultivated 28 per cent of local cotton varieties and marketed it. But after BT cotton entered the Indian cotton sector, people forgot about the desi cotton varieties. While travelling, I found that farmers from rainfed regions have started cultivating indigenous cotton. That itself is a huge change. But we need more farmers to join this revival. If they can cultivate cotton organically, it would bring in a huge change — they can also do multi-cropping that will guarantee a safe and sustainable livelihood,” explains the biotechnologist.

Kaskom campaign is a holistic process where the people involved — farmers, weavers, artisans, and consumers — are benefitted equally. “Farmers, weavers, and artisans will get sustainable livelihood. Consumers will get safe and healthy clothing solutions. Though we talk about slow fashion and its benefits, we don’t know about the raw materials that are being used for making the fabric. “We don’t do any sample tests to find out whether the raw materials used are safe for the skin or not. We are not sure if it is synthetic, polyester or even plastic! We need to be cautious about it. Through the Kaskom project, we are looking for chemical-free processing and natural dyeing methods,” Swaminathan asserts.