Bangladesh can reduce its cotton import by substituting tobacco cultivation with cotton farming in shoal areas and unused land in the Barendra region of North Bengal. This was highlighted at a seminar ‘Boosting Cotton Cultivation in North Bengal: Problem and Prospects’ recently. The seminar was organised jointly by the Bangladesh Cotton Development Board (BCDB), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Zerin Tex, RMG Chronicle and Nilphamari Chamber of Commerce and Industries (NCCI). According to Bangladesh Cotton Development Board (BCDB), there are about 1, 50,000 hectares of unused land in Barendra area in North Bengal while 60,000 hectares are being used for tobacco cultivation.

The country can produce nearly 2.0 million bales of cotton locally which can meet one third of the demand the country has for the apparel industry, said Farid Uddin, Executive Director, BCDB in his keynote presentation. As the second largest consumer, Bangladesh consumes 61 lakh cotton bales. Of this 1.5 lakh are produced locally, he said. The BCDB wants to replace tobacco cultivation with that of cotton as the country has a huge demand for it, he added.

Farming cotton in northern area is advantageous due to its geographical feature, i.e. char area, and dry weather, plus congenial atmosphere to agro forestry, Farid revealed. Asking farmers to cultivate cotton, the BCDB head honcho said that there was no risk selling cotton as its demand is very high. He further said that the country has a litany of farmers and the government is providing financial support to them.

The Cotton Development Board is working on introducing a high-yield variety to bring benefits to the growers. Speakers stressed on the necessity for higher production of fibre which could add more value to the country’s ready-made garments.