Organic Cotton Training Manual
The aim of this training manual is to facilitate training activities on organic cotton cultivation for smallholder farmers in the tropics. The training manual offers essential information in a compact and structured way, transparencies for illustration and didactic recommendations. The target group of the training manual is extension staff of organic cotton projects and rural development agencies. The training manual complements the Organic Cotton Crop Guide, which contains a detailed description of the theory, and references. Each sheet of the training manual covers a topic described in detail in the Organic Cotton Crop Guide.

Authors: Frank Eyhorn, Saro G. Ratter, Mahesh Ramakrishnan
Publisher/Editor: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland
Year: 2005
Commissioned by: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Switzerland
© Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
36 Pages

Contents:                                         
  • Recommendations on how to use the training manual
  • Why organic cotton?
  • Growing organic cotton – a system approach
  • Organic standards
  • Inspection and certification
  • Requirements of the cotton crop
  • Selecting the right cotton varieties
  • Soil properties
  • The importance of soil organic matter
  • Crop rotation – rotation crops
  • Green manures and intercrops
  • Nutrient requirements
  • Uptake of nutrients
  • Nitrogen immobilization
  • Application of manures and fertilizers
  • Compost quality
  • Setting up a compost heap or pit
  • Bio-fertilizers
  • Keeping your cotton crop healthy
  • Important cotton pests
  • Management of major cotton pests
  • Promotion of natural enemies
  • Direct pest management methods
  • Monitoring pests
  • Soil cultivation and weed management
  • Water management
  • Picking, storage, processing and trade
  • Strategies for organic cotton production
  • The economic performance of organic cotton
  • The conversion process
  • The role of women in organic cotton farming
  • Example of a schedule for a one week training course on organic cotton
Download the Training Manual in .rar format
All extension tools on organic cotton are also available on a CD from the FiBL website

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