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Cotton could be a major cash crop, as we need to spend $3 billion every year for its import to meet it expanding demand in the textile industry. (Source; Cotton Development Board’s -CDB). The country currently produces less than 0.2 million cotton bales (1 bale equals roughly 480 pounds) a year against the annual demand for 8.5 million bales. Against the backdrop of high demands, Bangladesh textile and spinning mills and other users import cotton from India, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, and several African and Central Asian nations. The target is to enhance domestic cotton production to 1 million bales using newly invented high-yielding and hybrid varieties and using the vast low fertile barren lands in the country’s southeastern hill region alongside some plain districts.
Concerned persons in Bangladesh are expanding (cotton) cultivation coverage in low-fertile regions of Barind land (greater Rajshahi), drought- and saline-prone areas, shoals and hilly areas, keeping in mind the initiative does not affect the main crops.
Cotton is mainly sown in the July–August period and harvested in between December and January and currently, its cultivation is spread over 45,000 hectares while the figure was 31,500 hectares in 2009-10.
Over the pat one decade, the production volume has nearly doubled since it was less than 100,000 bales in 2009–10. According to CDB officials, raw or seed cotton production was about 2000 kg per hectare in 2009–10, which now stands at 4,000 kg per hectare with the introduction of high-yielding and hybrid varieties.
Cotton is one of Bangladesh’s most important cash crops. Known for the healthy and organic cotton fabric ‘muslin’, the textile industry directly employs over four million people—80 per cent of them women — and provides the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Densely populated, Bangladesh’s average land size is less than one hectare per farmer, leading to very intense cultivation. To make ends meet on such small plots, farmers would need three harvests a year, but this had not been possible with traditional varieties as they take too long to grow. New varieties developed using nuclear techniques are changing that.
Multination Breeding is a new area of research for us and we now have this new cotton variant, which can be grown in a short period of time. We expect this fast-paced growth will increase yields and farmers’ income by 40 per cent, We have been collaborating with the IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to develop new varieties of cotton that are more productive and have better fiber quality. 13 March 2021 marked the official release and registration of a new cotton variety, called CDB Tula 1, which, thanks to concerted efforts, was developed in a third of the time that it usually takes to develop new varieties using traditional methods and half the time it usually takes when using nuclear techniques. Now the new cotton variety is being planted at 13 different locations in Bangladesh and over 1000 farmers are receiving training on the planting procedure.
Once widely used, the new variety is expected to bring macroeconomic benefits to the country as well. Due to lack of sufficient, high quality domestic supply, the cotton industry is currently dependent on imports. The alteration of the dry season and the monsoon season makes Bangladesh’s cotton particularly vulnerable, and the lack of a stable water supply year-round has caused huge losses in yields. This will be exacerbated by climate change. Hence, developing varieties that are tolerant to climate extremes and that grow at a quicker pace has been important for the country.
Irradiating cotton seeds with gamma rays to induce more variation, followed by selection for performance, allowed for the development of the CDB Tula 1 variety, which is high-yielding, drought tolerant and resistant to diseases while delivering a third crop per year thanks to its shorter maturity and its lack of sensitivity to the length of daylight.
Mutation breeding is cost-effective and quicker than conventional breeding, as it helps create numerous new genetic variations for a wider selection. By starting with so-called elite varieties for inducing genetic variation, the time to introduce additional farmer-preferred traits and develop new varieties is significantly reduced.
“Nuclear technology is helping scientists unmask the hidden potential in plants, allowing plant breeders to develop crop varieties with improved traits. By using radiation and related technologies to rapidly breed improved varieties, productivity can be accelerated.
Bangladesh also benefited from networking with scientists from other countries across Asia, working on similar programmes. “Exchanging experience on breeding methods specific to cotton also played a role in the success of Bangladeshi scientists,” Such regional cooperation strengthens the efforts to address a crop such as cotton with common regional importance.
Initiated in 2016, the Bangladesh Cotton Development Board’s cotton breeding programme works with farmers in Jessore, Rangpur, Dhaka and Chittagong. Through yearly training programmes arranged by the board, farmers can directly see the superior qualities of the new crops. In classrooms, the cotton farmers learn about the different stages in the life cycle of the cotton plant. Then they are shown ongoing field trials at the research centre, which uses irradiation to develop superior seedlings at a fast pace. This will allow farmers to understand the process, share their knowledge in their community and begin growing high-yield cotton independently.
A new cotton variety with good agronomic performance and great fibre quality developed within a short turnaround time using nuclear techniques in Bangladesh. Plant breeding is the process of exposing plant seeds, cuttings, or other planting material to radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays. Induced irradiation causes changes in the DNA, mimicking the natural process of spontaneous mutations and creates genetic diversity/variation in the cotton population. The individual plants are then multiplied and examined for their traits. Those exhibiting the desired traits continue to be cultivated and multiplied so they can be distributed to farmers around the country.
Under the above circumstances, Bangladesh has set a target to increase cotton production by five times by 2030, introducing new varieties and expanding cultivation areas, since the country appeared as the second-largest consumer of the industrial crop. The Cotton Development Board is instructed with the task of conducting research, producing, distributing and marketing seeds, expanding cotton cultivation and distributing loans among farmers.
So, in the light of demand and supply has been increased day by day. In this regard, the Bangladesh cotton market is a potential market in the days to come.
The writer is a researcher and columnist
Messenger/Fameema
