R
esponsible
Brazilian
Cotton
(RBC) is a certification program
administrated in national terms
by the Brazilian Association of
Cotton Producers (Abrapa), and
it isbasedonsocial, environmental andeco-
nomic pillars. According to the president of
the entity, Arlindo de Azevedo Moura, the
initiative stems from the union of the cotton
growers geared towards the production of
more sustainable fiber in Brazil, and is pres-
ent in sevenBrazilian cotton growing States,
led by the associations in Bahia (Abapa),
Goiás (Agopa), Minas Gerais (Amipa), Mato
Grosso (Ampa), Mato Grosso do Sul (Ampa-
sul), Maranhão (Amapa) andPiauí (Apipa).
“At the beginning of each crop year, all
the production units that have adhered to
the program go through a serious check,
carried out by the sustainability team of
each state association, when possible non-
conformities are corrected”, he explains.
“Only after these two phases the farm is
submitted to the certification process, con-
ducted by a third party.” The official stress-
es that the principles of the continued evo-
lution of the processes and the behavior
standards constitute the basic pillars of the
program. “The participating farms have to
achieve higher levels of conformity year af-
ter year”, he notes. Moura comments that
this is the way to achieve and enhance the
requisites of the program throughout the
growing season.
In the first cropyear, 85% is theminimum
to be achieved; in the second, 87%; and in
the third, 89%. Fromthe fourth crop year on-
ward, the productive unit is certified when
conformity reaches 90%, percentage should
be kept or even outstripped in the next sea-
sons, as aminimumrequisite. In the 2015/16
growing season the Responsible Brazilian
Coffee program achieved an all-time record,
with thecertificationof 81%of theentireBra-
zilian production of cotton, corresponding to
more than one million tons of fiber and up-
wards of 675 thousand hectares.
For the 2016/17 season, there are pos-
itive perspectives, especially for the cot-
ton growing states located in the Northeast
and Center-West, where the La Niña phe-
nomenon has been responsible for time-
ly and well-distributed rainfalls. “Despite
a 4-percent reduction in planted area, the
forecast is for an increase of 20% in the
national cotton crop. These data consoli-
date the promising scenario for the RBC to
achieve a new record in the production of
certified cotton in the 2016/17 crop year in
Brazil”, he ponders.
The seven biggest cotton producing
stateshavejoinedtheResponsibleBrazilianCotton
Program(RBCP),withaneyeonsustainability
In theminimum
details
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