December 18: The celebration of Cotton day India 2020 took place this time via a virtual meeting where several panelists discussed some serious issues faced by the cotton industry. Cotton Council International celebrated the day and discussed how the industry can now focus on product selling in the covid-19 era.
An important address was shared by the Senior Agriculture Attaché at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Lazaro Sandoval. Further on, Michael Duke, former Walmart CEO shared his take on the vitality of leadership through crisis, sustainability and retail scenario post coronavirus.
Bruce Atherley, CCI Executive Director explained, “India is an important trade partner for U.S. cotton with every second bale imported into the country being produced in the U.S. One of the key factors for this is ‘trust’ associated with U.S. cotton. Quality, transparency, sustainability and the premium value of U.S. cotton fiber has created a preference for U.S. cotton. We are also the first country in the world to High-Volume Instrument (HVI) test 100% of the bales to ensure that clients/mills get what they order. As the world grapples with COVID-19, we are seeing a steady increase in customers demanding more sustainable products.”
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CCI’s India representative, Peush Narang added, “The U.S. cotton industry has a history of strong relationship with India. For the year 2019, cotton was the second highest exported agricultural commodity from U.S. to India. The United States is India’s largest exporting partner for cotton apparel. Global brands and retailers have always looked up to India for textile products, especially made from cotton. U.S. cotton has been the first choice whenever mills need to export high quality yarns. India has been amongst the top two users of Supima, an extra-long staple cotton grown in USA.”
