00:00Yet again, it's been weeks since this part of Gujarat state last saw any rain.
00:08Temperatures in the summer can touch 50 degrees Celsius.
00:12Kach district is one of India's most arid regions, recording just 400 millimetres of rain per year.
00:20But that doesn't prevent the ages-old indigenous Kala variety of cotton from thriving here.
00:26It's known locally as zinda, meaning alive.
00:33Its growth depends entirely on the weather, good or bad.
00:37If God gives good rains, the crop grows well.
00:41The farmer only has to work hard.
00:44For almost 5000 years, Kala cotton has provided a livelihood for people here.
00:50Spinning the material by hand and dyeing it with natural substances
00:54are skills that have been passed down through countless generations.
00:59And Kala cotton is very much alive, in drought periods too.
01:06For farmers like Jeefti Ben, the plant provides welcome financial security.
01:13Plant cotton prosper at home.
01:16Growing Bajra and Moo doesn't earn us money.
01:20And thanks to Kala, we were able to buy three fields amounting to 35 acres.
01:25But the trade in Kala is a tough business.
01:35Globalised markets and a fast-changing fashion industry are growing issues.
01:40As of the declining number of people with the skills to grow and process this type of cotton.
01:47In the early 2000s, a lot of farmers here, and in other parts of India,
01:51made the switch from Kala to a genetically modified cotton variety.
01:55And Bt duly brought faster returns and higher productivity.
01:59But there's a catch, we're told by farmers here.
02:03Bt needs more water and more fertiliser.
02:06And being more vulnerable to pests also needs chemical treatment.
02:12All of this increases the farmers' costs.
02:16The produce is completely chemical.
02:19And after growing Bt cotton for three or four years,
02:22the soil loses its quality.
02:24It becomes almost dead.
02:28The change to genetically modified varieties has had a detrimental effect on local artisans.
02:33Meanwhile, the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat exacerbated the situation.
02:37It destroyed livelihoods and the delicate community networks
02:41that are so important for residents of Kach.
02:43The government wanted to see the region and its population make a swift recovery.
02:47A lot of Bt cotton was provided to farmers at highly subsidised rates.
02:56Of course, the impacts of Bt cotton, the challenges of Bt cotton in semi-editary terrains,
03:01all this was really not the priority.
03:03The priority was to really get people to start moving into a genetically modified seed
03:10and potentially lead to higher production.
03:13This is the village of Adesar in the east of Kach.
03:16Some farmers here have chosen to stick with Kala,
03:19despite the government subsidies available for Bt farming.
03:23They hope it will give them a sustainable and dependable income.
03:28Founded during the aftermath of the earthquake,
03:30the Khmer organization provides a platform for conserving craftsmanship and its traditions,
03:36and for marketing Kala cotton and its end products.
03:39From raw material procurement and design to value addition, washing and finishing,
03:50everything happens on our campus.
03:52Cloth sampling is done here, while production takes place in artisans' home workshops.
04:00The fibres are skillfully spun into yarn by women in their homes, enabling them to earn an income under their own roofs.
04:16Only natural substances are used for the subsequent dyeing process.
04:21Then it's over to the weavers to transform the material into fabric.
04:25Dayalal Bhai has been weaving for some four decades and is proud to continue and pass on the tradition in his family.
04:31I buy yarn from Khmer.
04:34Khmer sources cotton from farmers and passes it on to women spinners.
04:38So each person earns from the same chain.
04:41We are all part of one ecosystem, dependent on each other.
04:46That interdependence is what makes it sustainable.
04:50And because everyone is involved, the traditional knowledge and skills continue.
04:56Kala cotton is enjoying something of a revival.
05:01Except it's struggling to be picked up by the retail giants.
05:05The reason?
05:06Its fibres are far too short for industrial production.
05:09They need 28 mm, 29 mm.
05:11They're not going to touch anything below that.
05:14Now that's where the Kala cotton may not, will not qualify.
05:22Another issue is the hand-crafted fabrics having to compete against industrially manufactured imitations.
05:29Plus, that all-important organic certification for Kala often doesn't appear on finished garments, meaning consumers never see it.
05:37That's a problem, and one affecting everyone involved in the cultivation and processing of Kala cotton.
05:43We have to adapt to changing times.
05:48Previously, we didn't know about social media.
05:51But today, we use it for marketing and to promote Kala cotton products.
06:00Here on the Khmer organization's campus, the focus is not just on cultural heritage and sustainable fabric production.
06:08Another major aim is to ensure better lives for future generations.
06:13I hope we can create an environment where they can achieve that and find happiness in the hand-craft work they do.
06:20And that they feel a sense of responsibility to carry these skills forward.
06:25Kala cannot compete with fast-fashioned cotton varieties.
06:33What it can do is provide a real ecological and sustainable alternative.
06:37Quality as opposed to quantity.
06:40And more importantly, please.
06:41And specifically, we have a weak field of fear.
06:45Next, we're going to make a building of a cold theme garden.
06:48So we've got a gauntlet in the tide, which we've got to do with our studio.
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