Textile manufacturers and distributors want to source more Australian Certified Organic cotton, according to the Biological Farmers of Australia, but they say the industry faces significant challenges without more support.
According to the latest edition of the BFA's e-newsletter, The Organic Advantage, demand for organic cotton is on the rise, but not production.
It quotes organic manchester manufacturer and distributor Peter Byl, from Organature, as saying he is on his last batch of "Australian produced organic cotton from a crop harvested three years ago".
"Consumers are getting much savvier about the toxins which remain in fabrics after processing," Mr Byl said.
"I want to promote Australian organic cotton.
"Currently, most organic cotton is sourced from India, Turkey and Africa."
He says support should be provided for Australian cotton producers to encourage them to convert to chemical free.
"Without assistance, there are problems faced initially by Australian cotton producers competing on the open world market against products from less developed markets," he said.
"In comparison, the cost of Australian organic cotton is high – but can still be made viable."
The Organic Advantage also quotes Alexander Fawcett, from Edgeroi Organics, Narrabri, NSW, who produced what remains one of the only certified organic cotton crops in 2006.
He says producing the 80-hectare trial had its challenges, but the main restrictor was the expense of the cotton process overall, which ate into profit margins.
"There are a lot of steps in getting cotton off farm and into a final piece of fabric," Mr Fawcett said.
"Organic cotton generally has to be sent to India or Indonesia to be spun and woven, and it’s an expensive system.
"There's got to be a very good profit at the end of the day to make it worthwhile."
But he says he has received a steady amount of inquiries since harvesting his crop.
"People do want to know more about where to buy organic cotton in Australia – there is more of an established market seeking the product than there was when we grew our trial."
He says currently the only item that can be produced from cotton without leaving Australian shores are specific types of garments (e.g. T-Shirts) made from knitted fabrics via a spinner and knitter in Melbourne.
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