The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and AI firm Marple have achieved a significant milestone in their Satellite Cotton Monitoring Project in India, using AI-driven technology to detect organic cotton with a 97% accuracy rate. The project, co-financed by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme, demonstrates the potential to revolutionize organic cotton certification and industry sustainability efforts.

Using Marple’s Cotton Cultivation Remote Assessment (CoCuRA) software, the project surveyed over 6,000 fields in Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The software analyzed satellite data, detecting organic and conventional cotton fields across 2.7 million square kilometers of India's agricultural land, achieving over 80% accuracy in determining organic status.

The CoCuRA software enables the identification of cotton fields where farmers employ near-organic methods, helping them transition to certified organic practices. The technology also integrates with GOTS's Global Fibre Registry, strengthening fraud detection and ensuring fiber integrity in the organic supply chain.

This initiative not only boosts organic cotton availability but also promotes sustainable farming practices by facilitating farmer certification, enhancing transparency, and reducing fraud risks. GOTS plans to expand the project globally, with the potential to scale this solution for other regions and crops, offering a transformative approach to crop monitoring worldwide.