Organic cotton production in Paraguay. 2. Agronomic limitations for a novel industry.

Organic cotton production in Paraguay. 2. Agronomic limitations for a novel industry. Two main limiting factors to organic cotton production are soil fertility and pest (arthropods and diseases) management. Paraguay has begun to produce organic cotton since 2003. An exploratory study was carried out in order to have a better knowledge of the way the organic cotton production has developed and to identify economic (first paper) and agronomic limitations (this paper). In addition, this paper provides an analysis of the production of cotton-seed. The study was achieved in 2008 during the cotton harvest period by interviewing the actors from the farm to the industrial level. With more than 200 tons of cotton-seed produced since 2006-2007, Paraguay has reached the second position of South-American producers of organic cotton, behind Peru. In 20072008, the recorded average yield of 492 kg.ha(-1) of cotton-seed has been underestimated because of sales of organic cotton to the conventional industry. Fertilization and insect pest management, especially for the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis, were based on biological approaches at the whole cropping system level. Management practices included the use of made-in-farm inputs with, according to users, a fair level of efficacy but whose actual effects are mostly poorly known. We recommend in-depth studies firstly to identify the biological pathways involved when necessary, secondly to assess the qualitative and quantitative diversity of farmers practices, and thirdly to integrate their impacts at different space and time scales.