World Cotton Day and World Day for Decent Work (7 October)

06-10-2026 · English

Topics: Important Days · 6 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

Two world days fall on 7 October. The official World Cotton Day 2026 event is hosted in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, by the Government of Uzbekistan and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC); theme: 'Cotton for Good: Building Prosperity Through Trade, Transformation and Partnership'. The World Day for Decent Work is also observed the same day.

Key facts

Background

• India and cotton: India has the world's largest cotton area and vies with China for top producer. Main States: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana. The Indus Valley Civilisation (Mohenjo-daro) gives some of the world's oldest evidence of cotton cloth.
• Growing conditions: a kharif crop on black (regur) soil, formed from weathered Deccan Trap basalt, which holds moisture. Bt cotton is the only GM crop approved in India (2002); the pink bollworm is a problem.
• Bodies: Cotton Corporation of India (CCI, 1970) buys at the minimum support price; 'Kasturi Cotton Bharat' is India's cotton brand (2020).
• Decent work: the ILO coined the idea in 1999: jobs, rights, social protection and social dialogue. The ILO won the 1969 Peace Nobel; India is a founding member. India's four Labour Codes (wages, industrial relations, social security, occupational safety) came into force on 21 November 2025.

Tamil Nadu link: Coimbatore, the 'Manchester of South India' (spinning mills); Tiruppur, the 'Knitwear Capital' and 'Dollar City'; Karur, home textiles; Erode, a major textile market. Tamil Nadu has the most spinning mills in India. The black-soil (karisal) lands of Kovilpatti, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi are known for rain-fed cotton. Coimbatore hosts a regional station of the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR).

Source: FAO: World Cotton Day; ITUC: World Day for Decent Work

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