ORGANIC TEXTILES : ENSURING PRODUCT INTEGRITY

The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit organized the International Seminar on 12th March 2010 at Hotel ITC Maratha, Sahar, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400 099. The theme of the Seminar was “Organic Textiles : Ensuring Product Integrity”.

Mr. Mahendra Tanna, Vice-President, TAI, Mumbai Unit welcomed the Chief Guest, Mr. Dilip Jiwrajka, Managing Director, Alok Industries Ltd., Guest of Honour Mr. B. K. Patodia, Chairman & Managing Director, G. T. N. Textiles Ltd., Key Note Speaker Mr. Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director, Pratibha Syntex Pvt. Ltd., Guest Mr. Sushil Sain, Speakers, Press, Media and delegates.

Mr. C. Bose, President, TAI, Mumbai delivered the presidential address and highlighted the importance of the present event.

Mr. V. C. Gupte Chairman, TAI, Mumbai Unit and Convener of the seminar gave the brief of the event. He said that TAI, Mumbai Unit organized the international seminar on the same topic at Mumbai 2 years ago. The overwhelming response to that event and the fact that India has gone to the leading position in the manufacture of organic cotton, initiated the Mumbai Unit to organize second seminar on the same subject. It was also brought out that TAI is fortunate to have learned speakers and leaders in the manufacture of Organic Textiles for the deliberations.

Mr. B. K. Patodia, Chairman & Managing Director, G.T.N. Textiles Ltd. while addressing the delegates said that the industry needs to gear up to meet the needs of the trade in terms of quality of the products apart from meeting the eco-friendly requirements.

Mr. Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director, Pratibha Syntex Pvt. Ltd, emphasized on the importance of cluster development to organize organic cotton cultivation so that the supply chain can be managed by systems approach as per GOTS certification. He illustrated the organic forming and its benefits from his company operations. It was also brought that socioeconomic benefits are many fold with organic forming. He also stressed that the integrity should come within oneself – which could be product, society or even the nation at large.

Mr. Dilip Jiwrajka, Managing Director, Alok Industries Ltd, Mumbai, in his inaugural address said that the Alok experience have indicated that the organic textiles industry growth is going to be very positive and the industry should take this positive note for the development and expansion. He also highlighted the initiatives taken by the one of the NGO “Zameen” and the response of the forming community is very proactive for a significant growth.

The Textile Association, Mumbai Unit has set a precedent by felicitating the textile professionals their outstanding contribution in the field of textile industry. In this Seminar, the TAI Mumbai Unit felicitated Mr. Sushil Sain, Ex. President, TAI, & TAI, Mumbai Unit, Ex. CMD, NTC Ltd. with Life-Time Achievement Award. Industrial Excellence Award was conferred on Mr. Rajendra Agarwal, Managing Director, Donear Industries Ltd. Mr. Agarwal was unable to attend the seminar and hence the award was received by his daughter Ms. Ruchi Agarwal, Director, D’cot – A Division of Donear on his behalf.

In all, there were 7 technical papers presented during the seminar.

Mr. Manohar Parchure, one of the progressive former and an opinion leader in organic farming from Nagpur, Maharashtra presented his field experience in organic cotton cultivation. In his presentation, he brought out the advantages of organic farming with special reference to pollution. He also informed that prices of organic cotton and conventional cotton are same. Traditional cultivation with green or farm yard manure, mixed cropping can help in getting high yield and pest control to keep the cotton free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Dr. C. D. Mayee, Chairman, Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ICAR) made presentation on “Indian Initiatives towards organic cotton”. In his presentation, he informed that organic cotton growth has been significant over the years. However, Bt cotton and other conventional cotton are going to stay and they have their own role to play in the cotton production in the country. In order to develop organic cotton industry, he strongly recommended the zonal concept. In the context of product integrity, he felt that there are no full proof test methods which can distinguish the organic and conventional cotton at the finished goods stage. Therefore, an integrated system approach with scientific documentation can give traceability to identify the product integrity pertaining to organic cotton.

Dr. Binay Kumar Choudhury, Certifier, Control Union Certification, India gave an account of certification of the organic textiles as per the GOTS standards. He brought the salient features of documentation and theology of auditing to ascertain the manufacture and ultimately the product integrity as organic textiles.

Dr. Annegret Vester, Head of Marketing, CHTR, Beitlich, GmbH, Germany made a presentation on “Organic Cotton- more than a Fashion Trend “ In her presentation, she took through the journey of cotton cultivation with reference to organic cotton in the ambit of GOTS certification process. She emphasized on the criteria of processing, corporate social responsibility and factors to be consider during cultivation. She also presented a case study of the work carried out in terms of consumer preferences for organic textiles done in USA. Under the situation, more and more awareness needs to be brought in under different users segments.

Dr. John Eston, Ecological Solutions Manager, Dystar, Germany could not make up to present the paper in the seminar. Mr. V. R. Sai Ganesh, Head of Business Development, Dystar read the paper on behalf of Dr John. Presentation theme focussed on the differentiation of the eco processing and conventional processing so that organic textiles in the context of GOTS certification can be characterized for the product integrity. An analysis of eco-labeled products with organic textiles was done to illustrate the integrated nature of eco-friendly criteria in GOTS. A brief account of various criteria involved at the chemical processing stage was discussed. .At the end, various products and processes developed by Dystar towards meeting the organic textile standards was narrated.

Mr. Michael Andrew Kininmonth, Business Development Manager, Lenzing Fibers, Austria could not make up to present the paper in the seminar. Mr. Avinash Mane from Lenzing read the paper on behalf of Mr. Michael. The theme of presentation included the issues pertaining to sustainability. Defining the sustainability, paper emphasized “Improved quality of Life without compromising the quality of life of future generation”. The concept demands an integrated management of three dimensions Viz: Human, Financial, and Ecosystem. Discussing the perspectives of various man made fibres along with organic or natural fibres, the author brought home that regenerated fibres like Tencel have better role to play in terms of organic textiles. He briefly described the approach of Lenzing as a leading fiber producer addressing sustainability.

Mr. Ton Kaarsgaren, Farbotex Srl, Italy made a presentation on “Innovative Green Technology for wet Processing of Textiles”. The presentation focussed on use of different types of clays available in nature for textile processing such as Bleaching, Cleaning etc. It was brought that due to the small size of clay particles (up to 2micron), and the very thin layers (approx.only1nm), a huge surface of up to 800m2/g clay is available for absorption. The behaviour of the clay, with its negatively charged surface is also determined by counter metal ions such as calcium and magnesium ions and sometimes organic matter.

The last session began with Panel Discussion, which was moderated by Mr. Rahul Bhajekar COO Texalab Laboratories Mumbai. The panel comprised Mr. Amit Shah, CEO Amit Group, Mr. A. K. Prasad, Country Head, Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd., Dr. P. V. S. M. Gouri, Adviser, APEDA, Dr. Reena Aggarwal, Assistant Professor, NIFT and Mr. Vikram Chitnis, Trading Manager, Shoppers Stop. The theme of the panel discussion was “Brand India: An Organic Revolution”. There was good interaction between participants, who posed many questions to panel members and same were answered very promptly by the panel members. It was a very interesting and memorable session. The topics of interest were role of government, retailers, manufacturers, Interface with Fashion, Trade Mark and Criteria development. The delegates were intensely involved till the last session to lake advantage of the panel discussion. The organizers of the seminar were happy to note that the objectives of the International seminar are fully achieved.

At the end, Mr. A. V. Mantri, Hon. Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit proposed a vote of the thanks.

The Seminar was grand success and was attended by over 300 participants.