The non-profit Global Standard, which is in charge of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), has launched what is referred to as the “world’s first” program to show off the potential of remote satellite monitoring for organic cotton farming systems.
India, the largest producer of organic cotton globally, initiated two noteworthy projects in 2023, according to the GOTS Annual Report 2023.
The new project was created in collaboration with software startup Marple and the European Space Agency (ESA). It makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) to identify cotton fields in India using information from ESA satellites and automatically classify them according to cultivation standards.
The authors of the research explained that by incorporating standardised yield criteria, this innovative approach will enable GOTS to generate precise estimates of organic cotton yields in specific regions.
It is also expected that the research would make it possible for GOTS to identify cotton farms that have not yet acquired organic certification but have the potential to convert to organic cultivation. The first results of the project will be released in June.
By contrast, the other project was unveiled for the 2022–2023 harvest season and functions as a link between the farm and the gin. It functions as a tool to support integrity by obtaining data from farms or farm groups that produce organic raw seed cotton.
