Regenerative Cotton Farming: A Solution for India’s Water, Soil, Climate, and Rural Challenges
India’s cotton fields are at the nexus of a sustainability challenge and opportunity. Cotton is one of India’s most important crops, grown by roughly 5.8 million farmers on over 12 million hectares. However, cotton farming today faces formidable environmental stresses – from water scarcity to degraded soils – as well as social challenges like farmer livelihoods. In this context, regenerative agriculture is emerging as a promising solution. This holistic farming approach aims not just to sustain, but actively restore ecosystems by improving soil health, conserving water, reducing chemical inputs, and enhancing farmer well-being. Major brands and policymakers alike are beginning to recognize that regenerative practices in cotton can dramatically improve environmental outcomes while supporting rural communities. This article explores how regenerative agriculture can address India’s water crisis, soil degradation, climate pressures, and rural livelihood issues – with a special focus on cotton – and calls stakeholders to action in aligning with this nature-positive transformation.
Water Scarcity: Conserving Every Drop in Cotton Cultivation
Water scarcity is one of India’s most pressing challenges, and conventional cotton farming is a heavy contributor. In fact, producing just 1 kg of cotton in India can consume 22,500 liters of water on average – more than double the global average – due to inefficient irrigation and high water wastage. Much of India’s cotton is grown in arid regions where farmers rely on subsidized electric pumps to extract groundwater. This has led to unsustainable water use: in over half of India, 40–80% of available surface water is consumed annually, far above safe limits, and 58% of groundwater wells are declining. The result is drained aquifers and water stress for communities.
Regenerative agriculture offers a path to ease cotton’s thirst. By rebuilding healthy soils, regenerative practices significantly improve the soil’s ability to retain moisture and recharge groundwater. Healthier soils rich in organic matter act like sponges, absorbing monsoon rains and reducing runoff. Practices such as cover cropping and mulchingprotect the soil surface, allowing more rainwater to infiltrate instead of evaporating. Crop diversification and agroforestry also create shade and reduce water evaporation from fields. Together, these techniques mean cotton crops can thrive with less irrigation and are more resilient to droughts.
Real-world results are encouraging. In a regenerative cotton initiative in Madhya Pradesh, farmers adopted rainwater harvesting and better irrigation management, enabling them to grow multiple crops per year on the same land. Improved water management not only conserved water but also boosted farmers’ incomes and resilience, as they could cultivate additional crops during the year. Across India, more sustainable cotton programs are already making a dent in water use. For example, farmers in the Better Cotton programme managed to reduce water for irrigation by 29%between 2015 and 2022. These outcomes show that scaling up regenerative practices in cotton can substantially reduce the crop’s water footprint, helping secure scarce water resources for both farms and communities.
Restoring Soil Health for Sustainable Yields
The foundation of regenerative agriculture is healthy soil, yet decades of intensive farming have left India’s soils in crisis. It is estimated that 37% of India’s land is degraded, and in one large study, 85% of soil samples across India were found to contain too little organic carbon. Cotton-growing regions are no exception: continuous cotton monoculture and heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have depleted soil nutrients and soil organic matter. Over half of India’s cultivable land now suffers from organic carbon deficiency, leading to hard, lifeless soils that require ever more fertilizer for diminishing returns. Poor soil health in turn makes crops like cotton more vulnerable to pests, erosion, and climate stress, creating a vicious cycle of low productivity and environmental harm.
Regenerative farming breaks this cycle by rebuilding soil structure and fertility. Techniques include reduced tillage, planting cover crops or intercrops, and applying organic amendments like compost, manure, or biochar instead of solely synthetic fertilizers. These practices replenish organic matter and nutrients, improve soil porosity, and encourage a thriving soil microbiome. Over time, regenerative methods can turn compacted dirt into rich, friable soil teeming with life. Farmers report soil that holds moisture longer, has more earthworms, and produces healthier cotton plants with less chemical input. In India, participants in sustainable cotton programs have seen tangible benefits: by adopting soil-improving practices and integrated pest management, cotton farmers achieved yields around 650 kg per hectare – about 200 kg higher than the national average – all while spending less on inputs. This yield gain, achieved alongside a 15% reduction in input costs, shows that nurturing the soil can boost productivity and farmers’ incomes simultaneously.
Policymakers are taking note, too. The Government of India has launched initiatives like the Soil Health Card scheme to test and restore nutrients in soil, and has even outlined a national mission to make soils chemical-free, increase soil organic matter, maintain soil moisture, and curb erosion. These goals mirror regenerative principles. By championing composting, bio-fertilizers, crop rotation, and other regenerative techniques, India can transform its soils from depleted to dynamic. For cotton growers, healthier soil not only means higher and more stable yields, but also less vulnerability to pests and extreme weather.
Climate Benefits: Lower Emissions and Greater Resilience
Agriculture is both a victim of climate change and a contributor to it. In India, farming (including livestock) produces roughly 13–14% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, and while rice cultivation and cattle are major sources, cotton farming also has a climate footprint. Conventional cotton practices often release carbon from the soil into the atmosphere. Moreover, climate change is already affecting cotton growers: unpredictable monsoons, droughts, and heatwaves threaten yields.
Regenerative agriculture helps mitigate climate change while building on-farm resilience. By cutting reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, regenerative cotton farming directly lowers emissions. Even more impactful, regenerative practices turn farms into carbon sinks. Soil carbon sequestration is a key outcome of practices like cover cropping and no-till. Some regenerative cotton programs also introduce agroforestry. These trees not only sequester carbon but also provide windbreaks and shade, protecting crops under more extreme weather.
Leading brands have identified regenerative cotton as a lever for shrinking their supply chain (Scope 3) emissions. Preliminary data from field projects suggest that regenerative cotton cultivation can reduce cotton’s supply-chain carbon emissions by around 60% compared to conventional methods. Much of this comes from avoided fertilizer production, reduced soil emissions, and increased carbon capture in fields.
Empowering Rural Livelihoods and Communities
Cotton is often called the lifeblood of India’s rural economy, supporting the livelihoods of an estimated 6 million farmers and 40–50 million people in associated industries. Yet many cotton farmers are smallholders who face an uphill battle. High input costs for seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, combined with volatile market prices and climate-related crop failures, mean thin profit margins or even losses.
Regenerative agriculture directly addresses rural livelihoods by reducing costs and creating new income opportunities. By design, regenerative farming minimizes expensive inputs. The experience of Better Cotton farmers in India is telling: over the past several years, they lowered their total production costs by about 15% per hectare. At the same time, their higher yields and quality meant more marketable cotton. In Madhya Pradesh, regenerative pilot programs helped cotton farmers install simple irrigation and adopt crop diversification; as a result, many farmers now grow multiple crops and have increased their income, reducing the need for seasonal migration.
Importantly, regenerative agriculture also fosters community empowerment. Knowledge-sharing is a key component. In one model, “farmer ambassadors” mentor other farmers, creating a ripple effect. Additionally, many regenerative initiatives encourage farmers to form cooperatives or Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). These groups give farmers collective bargaining power to get better prices for their cotton and easier access to credit and markets. Finally, by improving environmental conditions, regenerative farming also improves quality of life.
Regenerative Cotton in Action: A Case Study
The potential of regenerative agriculture is already being demonstrated in India’s cotton sector through innovative partnerships. A notable example is the Inditex regenerative agriculture project in India, run in collaboration with Action for Social Advancement (ASA), the Laudes Foundation, IDH, and WWF India. Spanning about 300,000 hectares in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha and involving 75,000 smallholder farmers, this initiative showcases how regenerative practices can be scaled on the ground. The project emphasizes ecosystem restoration, soil conservation, and rainwater harvesting. As Ashis Mondal of ASA explains, the project tackles critical challenges like soil erosion and water conservation while helping farmers shift to organic methods. Farmers now irrigate in the dry season, enabling them to grow food crops alongside cotton. This diversification, combined with better water management, has led to significant economic benefits. The formation of farmer collectives under the project further empowers participants.
Another example comes from the widespread efforts of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) in India, which, while not exclusively regenerative, has increasingly incorporated regenerative principles. BCI’s 2023 India Impact Report shows that with training and awareness, nearly one million licensed cotton farmers in India have achieved major sustainability gains. These achievements underscore that farmers are willing and able to adopt better practices when given the right support.
Call to Action: Scaling Regenerative Cotton in India
The evidence is clear: regenerative agriculture is not a utopian idea, but a practical path to address the interconnected crises of water scarcity, soil degradation, climate change, and rural distress in India’s cotton sector. What is needed now is concerted action from all stakeholders to take pilot successes to scale.
Policymakers and Government Agencies:
Integrate regenerative agriculture into national and state programs.
Redirect support and incentives toward nature-friendly farming.
Invest in agricultural extension services to train farmers in regenerative techniques.
Set national targets for soil health and regenerative adoption.
Brands and Textile Industry:
Commit to sourcing more cotton from regenerative or sustainable farms.
Partner with local organizations to support training and pay premiums.
Use digital platforms for traceability and transparency.
NGOs and International Organizations:
Provide technical expertise and financial support.
Help organize farmer cooperatives.
Share best practices and impact data.
Farmer Groups and Cooperatives:
Act as champions for regenerative practices.
Negotiate directly with buyers.
Document results to access sustainability-linked incentives.
SIV Impact Inc. and Implementation Partners:
Expand our Regenerative Cotton initiative in partnership with field experts.
Offer Regenerative Cotton as a Service to brands.
Provide verified impact data on soil, water, carbon, and livelihoods.
In Conclusion: From Fields to Future
India stands at a crossroads. Regenerative agriculture offers a hopeful alternative: cotton fields that act as engines of environmental restoration and community prosperity. For policymakers and brands, the message is simple: it’s time to mainstream regenerative agriculture in the cotton sector. The initiatives by pioneering brands and farming communities have lit the spark. We must now turn it into a wildfire of change. As an organization devoted to syncing business with nature, SIV Impact Inc. urges all stakeholders to join this movement. Support and scale regenerative cotton farming in India – through policies, partnerships, and purchases – so that we secure our water, heal our soils, lower emissions, and uplift millions of rural livelihoods.
Sources:
Council on Energy, Environment and Water (2024). Healthy Soil for a Prosperous India: A Roadmap for Sustainable Soil Management
Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Soil Atlas 2024
The Guardian (2015). World Water Day: the cost of cotton in water-challenged India
Better Cotton Initiative (2023). India Impact Report (2014–2022)
CommonShare News (2023). Better Cotton Advances Regenerative Farming in India
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (2025). Field to fashion: Inditex’s India project and the future of sustainable supply chains
SIV Impact Inc. Regenerative Cotton Program
