Primark is to train 160,000 cotton farmers in China, India and Pakistan in environmentally friendly farming methods in its latest sustainability initiative.

Primark is running the scheme, to be completed by 2022, as part of its sustainable cotton programme, which targets the use of 100% sustainable cotton in all product categories, The Guardian reported.

The initiative will increase fivefold the number of farmers participating in the programme, run with partners Cotton Connect and the Self Employed Women’s Association trade union.

Farmers taking part are trained in methods such as efficient irrigation and the use of more organic pesticides and fertilisers.

Primark ethical trade and environmental sustainability director Katharine Stewart said the retailer aimed to do as much as possible to cut the use of fertilisers and pesticides, “but equally what we don’t want is for the farmers not to be able to deal with some of the pests when they have them”.

She said entirely organic farming results in far lower yields, which would affect the livelihoods of farmers. Since the launch of the scheme in India, some participants have increased their incomes by 200%.

Stewart also said Primark was “looking at what we can do to influence customers to wear clothes for longer and what they can do with them when they no longer want them”.

The retailer is piloting recycling units at its Birmingham flagship. Shoppers can return clothes from other retailers as well as Primark.