The Cotton Development Board (CDB) under the Ministry of Agriculture has set a target of producing 20,00,000 (20 lakh or 2 million) bales of cotton in the country by 2041.
This goal can be achieved by cultivating cotton on only 200,000 hectares of land, so the average production per hectare would be increased to 10 bales.
CDB Executive Director Md. Farid Uddin presented this information at an international webinar organized by CDB on the occasion of World Cotton Day 2020 on Thursday night.
The average production per hectare in Bangladesh in the last 2019-20 fiscal year was 6.15 bales per hectare, which in the world's top cotton-producing countries is above 10 bales.
He also noted that Bangladesh has to import a huge amount of cotton every year. In the 2019-20 financial year, 61 lakh bales of cotton had to be imported at a cost of around Tk 30,000 crore.
Speaking as the chief guest, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzak MP said the government was attaching great importance to cotton production.
“Recently, the construction work of CDB's own building has started. It is setting up physical infrastructure, equipment, laboratories and recruiting skilled manpower. So that the production of cotton can be accelerated and the target can be achieved by inventing new varieties suitable for the climate and climate of Bangladesh,” he said.
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