Usually, the cotton price is fixed according to the quality of the seed cotton. The most important measures to improve organic cotton quality during and after harvest are as follows:

• Remove leaves, capsules and damaged bolls from the cotton harvest.
• Pick and transport harvested cotton in clean cotton cloth material, never in nylon or other synthetic fabrics in order to avoid contamination with foreign fibres (from clothes, human hair, packaging material, etc.).
• Pick only mature cotton. Unripe cotton fibres do not absorb dyes well enough.
• Keep the cotton harvest dry. It should be picked in dry conditions, avoiding harvesting when there is morning dew or after rainfall. Storage also needs to be in a dry place.
• Prevent cotton from becoming contaminated with dust or chemicals, especially fertilizers, pesticides and petroleum.
• The use of any storage pest control (e.g. DDT) on harvest cotton is prohibited.
• Clearly separate organic cotton from non-organic cotton or cotton in conversion in order to avoid mixing.