Regional Member Meeting in India Explores Farm-Level Progress, Certification, and Traceability

Better Cotton hosted its annual Regional Member Meeting in New Delhi, India, on 15 February, welcoming around 250 member and stakeholder representatives from across South Asia to discuss farm-level initiatives, certification, and traceability.

Held in conjunction with Bharat Tex, India’s largest textile event, the meeting convened Better Cotton’s multistakeholder network and heard from retailers, brands, Programme Partners, trade associations, and research institutes.

Representatives from Programme Partners in India, the Ambuja Cement Foundation, and the Lupin Foundation, were among the speakers and explained how they bring the Better Cotton mission to life for cotton farming communities across the country.

H&M and Bestseller, meanwhile, reflected on one year of Better Cotton Traceability, its successes and scope for development in the coming years to meet growing demand for supply chain visibility.

Arvind Rewal, Global Raw Materials Lead – Agriculture, at IKEA, and a member of the Better Cotton Council, shared his insights into Better Cotton’s direction of travel, including plans to scale the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.

Dr Y.G. Prasad, Director of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, then dove into his field-level research which defined soil health as the key to sustainability before looking at some production technologies and the environments they’re best suited to.

Peush Narang, Associate Director at Cotton Council International, followed, offering his forecast on policy and innovation and how both are having profound effects on the sector’s development.

Finally, leading Indian apparel manufacturers, Vardhman Textiles and Impulse International, took to the stage and discussed their sourcing strategies, and how emerging EU legislation is set to impact their operations.

Throughout the day, a series of sessions led by Better Cotton staff provided updates on:  

• New and existing partnerships in India, from Director of Better Cotton’s India programme, Jyoti Narain Kapoor
• Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy, and plans for the future, from Senior Director of Membership & Supply Chain, Eva Benavidez Clayton
• Projects afoot across India and their scope for impact, from Senior Manager for Implementation and Capacity Building in India, Saleena Pookunju
• Better Cotton’s certification journey and what it will mean for supply chain actors, from Senior Manager for Supply Chain and Traceability, Manish Gupta
• Better Cotton Traceability, its implementation and next steps, from Traceability Operations Manager, Pernille Bruun

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