Cotton has helped farmers in Bangladesh cultivate land which used to previously stay fallow due to lack of irrigation facilities.
Due to its vertical tap root, cotton is much more resilient to high temperatures, less water intensive and needs just one round of irrigation. Cotton yields better results than rice which requires standing water and multiple rounds of irrigation. While the input costs for growing cotton are slightly higher than that for rice, the returns for cotton are significantly higher.

Cotton is an economically viable crop, especially in drier regions. Here demonstration farms have been set up that provide information and inputs support to farmers and buy cotton from them at market prices to ensure they get the best returns.

Yet most small scale farmers continue to grow highly climate sensitive traditional crops such as rice for fear of perceived uncertainties. Perceived risks, primarily due to lack of information and support, have resulted in the transition to cotton cultivation being limited to farmers who have the economic avenues to bounce back from potential losses.

Bangladesh’s domestic cotton production forms merely four per cent of the industry’s demand for raw cotton. Cotton imports are proving to be a major drain on foreign exchange reserves in Bangladesh. To improve the balance of trade and make the textile industry, which contributes about 27 per cent to the country’s GDP, more self-sufficient, domestic cotton production needs to increase exponentially.