Better Cotton, a non-profit organisation built to promote better practices in cotton farming, is on its way to become a regenerative standard by next year. This announcement was made at their recently-concluded 2025 Better Cotton Conference.
With this move, the NGO aims at not only bolstering their goal of protecting the environment and enhancing the working conditions of cotton farming communities but the regenerative standard will also give them space to set guidelines that are focussed on enhancing and restoring the natural resources in agriculture and allied ecosystems.
In this regard, Eva Benavidez Clayton, Senior Director of Demand and Engagement at Better Cotton stressed upon the need of having approaches that go beyond just the mitigation and reduction of harm. Instead she talked about incorporating the methods that actively restore the environment and further to this, she expressed that Better Cotton will finish the remaining steps to become a regenerative standard in the next 12 months.
To secure the standard, Better Cotton is currently updating its criteria, which are a crucial part of the process. Further, the NGO is also working with its programme partners in order to implement the standard and create a reporting framework that’s based on outcomes.
Also, in addition to Better Cotton’s already-recognised field-level standard, Clayton also said that this step will guarantee that farmers, who meet their standards, are incorporating the widely accepted regenerative practices.
This announcement got a green signal from other panelists in the regenerative practices conference. Peter Bunce, Head of Cotton at Indigo Ag and Muzaffer Turgut Kayhan, President at IPUD praised the progress made by Better Cotton and talked about the significant positive impact this move will make on the future agricultural practices.
