Cotton Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.2, 80-94 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/cgg 91 surrounding areas, leading more farmers who did not participate in the project to spontaneously adopt similar measures. For example, seeing that their neighbors used sex attractants to catch insects with good results, many farmers who did not participate in the training also bought traps and hung them in their own cotton fields, and the concept of sustainability spread from point to surface. The case of Gujarat shows that with the appropriate promotion model and necessary support, the small peasant economy can also quickly achieve the green transformation of the production system and achieve a "three-win" effect: increased income for farmers, improved environment and enhanced industry sustainability. This provides a valuable reference for other cotton-producing areas. 7 Future Directions and Suggestions 7.1 Expand the promotion coverage of successful experiences Although sustainable cotton cultivation has achieved initial results worldwide, it is necessary to promote changes on a larger scale and at a deeper level to cope with more severe environmental and market challenges in the future. At present, sustainable cotton projects are mainly concentrated in some regions and farmers, and the proportion of global cotton farmers and production is still limited. For example, although projects such as BCI cover millions of farmers, it is just a beginning compared to the hundreds of millions of farmers engaged in cotton cultivation around the world. Therefore, countries should increase promotion efforts on the basis of summarizing existing successful models to achieve wider replication. First, it is recommended that the governments of major cotton-producing countries incorporate sustainable cotton into agricultural development strategies and set clear phased goals. For example, by 2030, more than 50% of the country's cotton fields will meet sustainable standards such as reducing pesticides and saving water. The government can guide more farmer cooperatives, cotton companies and NGOs to participate in the action through policy advocacy and demonstration projects. Secondly, international cooperation and knowledge exchange should be strengthened to avoid each region fighting alone. Cotton-producing countries such as China, India and the United States can establish a cotton sustainable development alliance to regularly share experiences, technologies and policy measures. On a wider platform, such as ICAC (International Cotton Advisory Committee) and ANSO (the Belt and Road International Science Organization Alliance), special seminars and training courses can continue to be held to benefit more small and medium-sized cotton-producing countries. Private sector investment also needs to be expanded. At present, many projects promoting sustainable cotton are funded by brand companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment and multilateral agency assistance. In the future, more downstream textile and garment companies should be encouraged to join. For example, a "Joint Commitment on Sustainable Raw Material Procurement" can be established to call on major global textile brands to commit to increasing the proportion of sustainable cotton procurement to a certain level in the next 5-10 years. This will send a clear demand signal to the market and attract more cotton farmers to transform. In the process of expanding the scale of promotion, attention should be paid to adapting to local conditions and not copying successful cases while ignoring differences in local conditions. It is recommended to adopt a demonstration area-radiation model to create several successful models in different countries and regions, and then promote them to the surrounding areas after localized improvements to ensure that newly adopted farmers can also obtain expected benefits and consolidate confidence in sustainable practices. 7.2 Enhance climate resilience The cotton industry is increasingly threatened by climate change, such as extreme high temperatures causing cotton buds and bolls to fall off, and abnormal rainfall triggering pest and disease outbreaks. Improving the climate resilience of cotton cultivation systems is a key issue for future sustainable development. First, the cultivation and promotion of climate-resilient varieties should be accelerated. This includes high-temperature and drought-resistant cotton varieties, as well as varieties that are resistant to flooding and salinity. On the basis of traditional breeding, molecular breeding and gene editing technologies should be fully utilized to accelerate the breeding process (Nagaraj et al., 2024). Gene banks in various countries should strengthen the collection and research of wild cotton relatives and local germplasm resources, because they often contain stress resistance genes. International collaborative breeding can share these valuable resources, breed together, and share results. Secondly,
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