Growing cotton

Spinning

Ginning is the process of separating seeds from the cotton fibers. The raw cotton for the project T-shirt was ginned at the Prathu Ginning Mill in Ramabhadrapuram Mandal, Parvathipuram Manyam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. This mill takes an innovative approach to ginning with managers who have a background in spinning and know exactly what makes high-quality cotton fiber. Did you know that cotton seeds make up two thirds of the weight of unprocessed cotton? During ginning, these seeds are removed. Cotton seeds with a better fiber length (hybrid seeds), can’t be sown again. This is also true for the organic regenerative cotton farmers associated with Raddis, but, each year, the seeds they require are supplied to them interest-free.

To ensure the cotton produced by Raddis remains separate from non-organic and non-regenerative cotton, and to maintain transparency throughout the value network, the cotton is processed in single batches of up to 10,000 kg. This amount of raw cotton produces about 3,300 kg of lint (cotton fiber). At the ginning mill, the lint is pressed into 170 kg bales, which are then sent to the spinner.

Contact
Prathu Ginning Mill (no company website)
Ramabhadrapuram Mandal, Parvathipuram Manyam district of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, India

Listen to Kannan, the manager of the Prathu ginning mill, who specializes in separating cotton seeds from fibers in the ginning process. Production: Raddis Cotton.