ORGANIC FARMING - A NICHE FOR COTTON PROD UCTION

In the cotton crop 10-12% of the world pesticide production are used. These very high chemical inputs affect the ecology in the main product ion areas considerably and often cause resistance of the major cotton pests, which in turn require even more intense applications. Ln some a reas cotton production was given up because pests were no longer contr ollable and therefore the crop unprofitable. Recently, some farmers an d organizations intended to produce cotton without application of agro chemicals according to the standards of organic farming. For this obje ctive specific farming practices were developed to ensure nutrient sup ply and crop protection. Nevertheless, yields are generally lower than for conventional cropping systems. Researcher were hardly active in t his area so far; therefore the production practices and cropping syste ms are based entirely on the knowledge and experiences of the farmers.