However, the conditions of production and processing are often far from 'natural' and are largely unknown or ignored by consumers. But they are certainly not unknown to the producers, especially poor producers. Cotton is an important source of much-needed cash for small farmers. And it also adds to the national economy of many developing countries like Benin where cotton fibre accounts for 35 per cent of export earnings. It is grown in at least 60 countries.
Cotton still provides about half of all global fibre requirements.
The six big producers are the US, China, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. They account for about 75 per cent of global production. The size of the world's cotton-growing areas has not changed much since the 1930s but average yields per hectare have increased threefold through the intensive use of synthetic chemicals. Irrigation and the use of higher-yielding plant varieties have also played their part. But cotton is very prone to insect infestation and large quantities of the most acutely toxic insecticides are used in conventional cotton production.