Cotton production reaches 70,000 bales this season
Project to strengthen cotton research awaits govt nod
Reported on: June 04, 2010 16:52 PM
Dhaka, June 4 (UNB) - The country witnessed lint cotton production of 70,000 bales in the current season including 2000 bales under the hybrid cotton cultivation.
In the 2009-10 season, some 31,500 hectares of land were brought under cotton cultivation and we have achieved expected production of 70,000 bales, said Deputy Director of Cotton Development Board (CDB) M Farid Uddin.
Talking to UNB, he said that in the current season the cotton farmers used hybrid seeds in their fields for the first time and the output was very good.
Farid Uddin informed that of the total land, 289.5 hectares were brought under cultivation of two hybrid varieties - HSC-4 and DM-1. Around 3-3.5 tons of seed cotton were harvested in each hectare (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) compared to two tons from traditional CB-9.
The lint cotton production in the 2008-09 season was not so encouraging as some 32,600 hectares of land were brought under the cultivation from where 50,175 bales of cotton were harvested.
In the current season, the farmers grew hybrid cotton after two local business houses - Supreme Seed Company and Lal Teer Seed - began marketing the Chinese variety of hybrid seeds.
The fiber length of the hybrid variety is also better than the traditional one, said the CDB Deputy Director.
He said that the CDB is planning to increase the production target to over 90,000 bales in the next season (2010-11) by bringing some 42,000 hectares of land under cultivation including hilly and plain areas.
M Farid Uddin informed that a five-year CDB project to strengthen its research activities is also awaiting government nod for approval.
Under the proposed project from July 2010-June 2015, the hybrid variety of cotton seeds would be developed apart from developing technology.
The project titled Strengthening Research Activities of CDB would be implemented at an estimated cost of Tk 18 crore, informed the CDB Deputy Director.
Besides, the manpower of the CDB would be increased including appointing more scientists, establishing one gene bank and two green houses.
M Farid Uddin informed that they are planning to introduce a new traditional variety of CB11 from the next season apart from CB9. The CB11 variety, which is expected to be cost effective with 3-3.5 tons production per hectare, will be less vulnerable to boll rot disease and can be harvested within 180 days.
He said that there was huge enthusiasm among the cotton farmers under hybrid seed cultivation in the current season in Kushtia, Jhenidah and Chuadanga districts. The acreage under hybrid cultivation as well as the production will increase in the next season.
Of the existing traditional varieties of seeds like CB1, CB2, CB9 and CB10, the CB9 is cultivated on around 90 percent of the total land, the CDB official said.
One kilogramme of DM-1 of Lal Teer seed costs around Tk 2,000. On the other hand, the price of traditional seed is Tk 15-20 per kg.
Despite the huge additional cost, the hybrid seed is still profitable for the cotton farmers as it takes only 1.5-2 kg for per bigha, which is much lower than that of the traditional ones, said Fariduddin.
Ashraful Islam, a cotton farmer in Jhenidah district, told this correspondent over phone that the hybrid variety works well as it offers better yield.
He, however, cited excessively high price of hybrid seed as one of its problem.
But, considering the demand of the countrys textile industries, the local producers can meet 3-5 percent of the demand, as the textile sector needs to import around 35 lakh bales of cotton a year, which is around 95-97 percent of the total demand.
The main raw cotton-importing countries are Chad, Mali, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
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