Cotton Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.2, 80-94 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/cgg 89 innovation. The local experience accumulated by many small farmers is still valuable in sustainable agriculture. Practices such as mixed crop rotation and composting should be paid attention to and verified in scientific research and improved by modern science. The government can establish a farmer field experiment funding project to encourage experienced farmers to cooperate with scientific researchers to test new methods, draw inspiration from them, and form technical solutions adapted to local conditions. In summary, policy support for scientific research and promotion provides long-term impetus for the development of sustainable cotton. This ensures that under policy incentives and market demand, there are sufficient technical reserves and professional manpower to support the smooth transformation of the industry, without being hindered by lack of technology or insufficient personnel. 6 Case Study: Sustainable Cotton Cultivation in Gujarat, India 6.1 Background Gujarat is located in western India and has an arid and semi-arid climate. It is one of the largest cotton-producing states in the country, with smallholder farming and rain-fed cotton fields dominating. For a long time, local cotton farmers have faced challenges such as poor soil quality, frequent droughts and volatile market prices. However, in the past decade, a series of sustainable cotton cultivation projects have been implemented in Gujarat with remarkable results. Gujarat has a long history of cotton cultivation, and cotton is the backbone of the state's rural economy. The state's cotton cultivation area is about 2.6 million hectares, and the annual output accounts for more than 30% of India's total output (data source: Annual Report of the Indian Cotton Board). Traditionally, local cotton farmers are mostly smallholders, with families operating a few hectares of land, and mainly rely on monsoon rainwater to grow rain-fed cotton, with limited irrigation facilities. When pests such as cotton bollworms were rampant in the late 20th century, cotton farmers used large amounts of pesticides, which even caused pesticide poisoning incidents (Bharpoda et al., 2000). At the same time, due to the lack of improved varieties and technical guidance, the cotton yield has been low for a long time, not as good as that of the irrigated cotton areas in northern India. In response to these problems, the Indian government and international organizations have carried out a number of intervention projects in Gujarat. For example, since 2011, Gujarat has become one of the focus areas of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), and many cotton farmers have begun to improve their planting methods in accordance with BCI standards. In 2013, the large retail company Primark, CottonConnect and local NGOs launched the "Sustainable Cotton Project" in Gujarat, initially organizing 1 251 female cotton farmers to participate in the pilot near Ahmedabad. The project was later expanded to the entire state and replicated in other parts of India and the country. It can be said that Gujarat provides an ideal testing ground for sustainable cotton practices, and its experience is representative. 6.2 Practices In the sustainable cotton project in Gujarat, all the best practices mentioned in the previous chapters have been comprehensively applied. The project provides participating farmers with trained field instructors, regularly conducts farmer field school activities, and teaches technologies such as integrated pest management, soil improvement and efficient water use. Farmers switched to new insect-resistant cotton varieties, which greatly reduced the use of pesticides (Figure 2). At the same time, the project encouraged farmers to plant attractant crops such as corn around cotton fields, set up pheromone traps and yellow boards, and implement biological control measures to control insect population density (Murtaza et al., 2019). In terms of soil management, the project advocated the use of more organic fertilizers, such as composting livestock and poultry manure and returning it to the fields to increase soil organic matter. Some farmers tried intercropping and rotation of cotton with green manure crops (such as broad beans) to improve soil nitrogen cycles. In response to the local water shortage problem, the project cooperated with the government to build small reservoirs and installed low-pressure drip irrigation systems in fields with conditions. Although most cotton fields still rely on monsoon rainwater, a small number of demonstration fields using drip irrigation have shown good water-saving and yield-increasing effects and have promotion potential. The project also paid special attention to the capacity building of women cotton farmers. Since many cotton fields are actually managed by women (men work outside seasonally), the time and format of the training courses are considered to be convenient for women and increase their participation (Hirway
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==