Growing up with inspiring figures like my Mava (relative), Dr. Santhosh H B, a dedicated cotton breeder at CRIDA in Hyderabad, has greatly influenced my journey. His passion for agriculture and guidance from his junior (Dr. Kencharaddi H G), an assistant professor at the College of Community Science in Tura, Garo Hills, introduced me to the fascinating world of Comilla cotton. With its rich potential, this unique cotton variety has captivated my interest and inspired me to explore its benefits.
Comilla cotton is a heritage cotton of North Eastern India and is one of the three races that originated from India. The history of Indian cotton (Gossypium arboreum) traces back from the Indus Valley Civilization, eventually spread across various parts of the world and evolved into six different races viz. bengalense, burmanicum, cernuum, indicium, sinense, and sundance. Among these six races, bengalense, indicum, and ceranuum are spread and adapted in the Indian subcontinent. The race bengalense is distributed in the Northern part, indicum in the Southern part, and ceranuum in North Eastern part of India. Gossypium arboreum race cernuum is mainly cultivated in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya. It is popularly known as “Comilla Cotton” because of its historical trading in the Comilla district of Bangladesh. This cotton plays a significant role in the surgical cotton industry due to its high absorbency, eco-friendly production, and indigenous processing technology.
Comilla cotton in Garo Hills has been growing in mixed farming systems under shifting or Jhum cultivation. The cotton grown under this traditional farming method using indigenous management practices made this cotton in high demand for surgical purposes. Let’s delve deep into the unique qualities of Comilla cotton, its conventional cultivation practices, the revitalization efforts that are breathing new life into its production, and the profound social and economic impact it has on local communities.
Photo Courtesy: Kencharaddi, H. G.
The Unique Qualities of Comilla Cotton
Comilla cotton possesses several unique traits that make it distinct and valuable:
- Morphological characteristics: Comilla cotton is renowned for its unique morphological features like large bracts, long petiole, elongated capsules, big bolls, more number of seeds, good boll retention ability, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
- Unique fiber qualities: Comilla cotton shows unique fiber qualities such as high absorbency and superior fiber standards.
- High absorbency: The high absorbency of Comilla cotton makes it ideal for surgical uses, such as surgical cotton production.
- Superior fiber standards: Short fiber length ( ~ 20 mm), lower ash content, and micronaire value (> 7 mg/inch) meet the Indian Pharmacopoeia standards, ensuring quality and suitability for surgical cotton purposes.
- Eco-friendliness: Comilla cotton is cultivated using traditional farming methods, often without pesticides, making it a sustainable choice for high-quality fiber production.
Comilla cotton is gaining popularity because of its strong absorbent quality, making it perfect for surgical and medical uses. It is also being used in eco-friendly sanitary pads that avoid using SAP, a chemical associated with environmental damage and health problems like cervical cancer. This allows manufacturers to create safer, healthier, and more environmentally friendly products.
Traditional Cultivation Practices in the Garo Hills
The cotton grown in the Garo hills of Meghalaya is organic and composite in production. It is cultivated in a mixed farming system under Jhum cultivation, intercropped with 10-15 crops on the same land. This method conserves soil fertility and minimizes the need for synthetic inputs. They follow traditional farming methods to cultivate, insect-pest control, harvesting, and processing. These cultivation practices are transferred from generation to generation through their ancestors. The seeds are sown by the dribbling method, males are involved in making holes and females sow the seeds using locally made equipment called ‘Matta’ usually during the pre-monsoon period. The crop is usually harvested during November/ December. They follow various chemical-free Indigenous management practices to protect their crops making bird shelters, using cow dung for delinting before sowing, applying ash, use of neem and tobacco leaf extract, and using bamboo traps and baits to catch rodents.
Photo Courtesy: Kencharaddi, H. G.
Cotton from Field to Hospital
The journey of Comilla cotton from the field of Garo Hills to hospitals is an example of how local resources are transformed into valuable products for healthcare. Garo people still follow traditional farming methods such as mixed farming under Shifting or Jhum cultivation. The cotton is harvested manually to ensure the quality of the fiber is preserved. The harvested cotton is transported from the Garo Hills to Comilla, a city historically renowned for its textile and handloom industries. In Comilla, the raw cotton is cleaned, graded, and spun into threads. This process ensures that the fibers are smooth and uniform. Skilled artisans weave the threads into fabric. The traditional expertise of the region adds a unique quality to the final product. The cotton fabric undergoes further processing to meet healthcare standards. This includes sterilization and converting the fabric into medical-grade cotton products, such as gauze, bandages, and cotton pads. These medical textiles are packaged under hygienic conditions to ensure safety and sterility. The finished medical cotton products are distributed to hospitals and healthcare facilities across the region and beyond. These products are essential for wound care, surgeries, and general medical use.
The journey of Comilla cotton from the outfield to hospitals supports the livelihoods of various farmers in the Garo Hills and artisans in Comilla. It promotes the use of locally sourced, eco-friendly materials in healthcare, emphasizing sustainability and community development. This cycle highlights how traditional industries can align with modern needs, bridging the gap between rural livelihoods and urban healthcare demands. Furthermore, emphasizes its role in sustainable agriculture and the medical industry.
Photo Courtesy: Kencharaddi, H. G.
Revitalization Efforts and Innovations
Efforts to revitalize Comilla cotton involve a partnership between the ICAR-Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, and the Central Agricultural University, Imphal. Key steps include:
- Improved Varieties: Developing high-yielding and resilient cotton varieties that retain Comilla’s unique traits, such as large bolls, more seeds, and short staple fibers.
- Community-Based Initiatives:
- A Self-Help Group (SHG) in Darechigre village uses locally grown Comilla cotton to produce eco-friendly earbuds. These products will soon be sterilized, packaged, and sold locally and online, creating new income opportunities.
- Medical-Grade Cotton:
- Indigenous methods for scouring and bleaching ensure Comilla cotton meets medical standards for surgical use.
- Farmers and villagers are trained to produce high-quality cotton for the medical textile industry.
- Market Access: Smallholder farmers are being linked directly to the surgical cotton industry, boosting income and preserving traditional knowledge.
- Training Programs: Workshops support crop improvement and product development to expand cultivation and promote local entrepreneurship.
The above-said approaches connect farmers to markets, support community development through sustainable livelihoods, and enhance indigenous knowledge systems. These innovative efforts helped to revitalize Comilla cotton.
Conclusion
The journey of Comilla cotton from the lush fields of the Garo Hills to the sterile environments of hospitals represents the synergy between traditional craftsmanship and modern healthcare needs. This process not only reflects the economic and cultural interdependence of rural farmers and urban industries but also showcases the importance of sustainable, locally sourced materials in a globalized world. By transforming raw cotton into surgical-grade products, this journey underscores how regional expertise and natural resources contribute to saving lives and enhancing well-being. Ultimately, it is a story of resilience, innovation, and the enduring value of human and natural collaboration. Revitalization of Comilla cotton further supports vocal for local, local for global, and make-in-India initiatives and preserves heritage thread.
References
Kencharaddi, H.G., Ramkrushna, G.I., Pavan Kumar, S.T., Marak, S., Vastrad, J., Wanniang, S.K., Rajappa, J.J. and Santosh, H.B., 2024. Present status and prospects on conservation and promotion of Comilla cotton (Gossypium arboreum race cernuum) cultivation in the Garo hills region of Northeastern India. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, pp.1-23.
Afzal, M., 1951. Comilla cotton of East Pakistan.
Raju, A.R., 2015. Production economics of surgical cotton in mixed cropping systems of India. Annual Research & Review in Biology, 6(5), pp.337-346.
