Hybrid technology and cotton sustainability: Closing the 79th Plenary Meeting

The first session gathered four prominent researchers to discuss the milestones reached in cotton hybridisation; the challenges faced by organic, genetically modified and hybrid cotton; developments in the science of plant breeding; the lack of modern, available technologies for hybrid seed development; and the suitability of hybrid cotton in rain-fed regions of Africa.

In the final session of the conference, no fewer than 10 cotton and textile experts from across the globe presented the results of the roundtables each of them held in the preceding weeks to discuss ‘The Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainability’. As part of the World Café, a special session designed to increase audience interaction, each expert delivered an overview of the topics discussed and ideas generated, providing a high-level summary of the collective thoughts and insights of more than 100 industry experts. Major topics discussed include the responsibilities of each stakeholder in the supply chain; how to define and measure what ‘sustainability’ means; how to cope with climate change; the role of textile labelling and more.

Speaker presentations will be uploaded at the end of each day to a web page that also lists the ICAC Plenary Meeting’s agenda.

Click here:

https://www.icac.org/Meetings/Details?eventId=1214

An announcement will be sent in the coming weeks once all recorded presentations are uploaded and available on YouTube.

The ICAC’s Virtual 79th Plenary Meeting was held 6-8 December with the theme, ‘Fortifying the Cotton Supply Chain: New Approaches to New Challenges’.