Problems related to cotton production in Bangladesh

Bangladesh prevail favorable weather for cotton production. Though 2.42 lakh hectares of land are suitable for cotton cultivation in Bangladesh 1 lakh hectares of land are available for cotton cultivation but cotton production are not increasing considerably due to many constraints related to research, marketing & management. The following are the major problems of cotton production in Bangladesh.

Scarcity of Land: The lands suitable for growing cotton have been declining due to urbanization, industrialization, housing and other purposes. Also farmers are intended to grow three or more crops from the same land in a year. But due to long duration cotton can't fixed in the existing cropping pattern.

Competition with other high value crop: Cotton is highly competitive with other high value crops like- vegetables, spices, flowers, banana & other fruits. Farmers are migrated from cotton to these high value crops.

Lack of short duration, high yielding & pest tolerant varieties: CDB released 10 varieties for American Upland Cotton & 2 varieties for Hill Cotton. Out of these varieties, the farmers in Bangladesh cultivate only five varieties. Only CB-5 & CB-9 are hairy varieties which are slightly tolerant to sucking pests like jassids. None of the existing varieties are resistant to bollworm. Duration of all the varieties are about 6-7 months & law yield capacity compared with other countries.

Low market price: International market price is influenced domestic cotton price. In the recent past years price of cotton in the international market became unstable & price is downward that affects the domestic market. So, farmers sifted from cotton to other high value crops.

High input cost: High input cost, particularly fertilizer and pesticides. This is because of the heavy reliance on pesticides for cotton pest management.

Insect pests and Diseases of cotton: The major insect pests of cotton in Bangladesh include the chewing insect namely American bollworm & Spotted bollworm and the sucking insects namely the Jassids, Aphids & Whitefly. Farmers have to given more attention to the management of these pests & spent about 40% of the total production cost.

Weakness in cotton research: Adequate infrastructure & human resource facilities for cotton research is very limited within the Cotton Development Board. Most of the Scientist working under Cotton Development Board are junior in service and don't have much experience in research. Linkage between other Research Organizations is very low & inadequate facilities for human resource develoment.

Future Strategies              

Cotton remains the chief raw material for textile industry. The demand for cotton textile products is increasing every day due to increasing global population. To meet the challenges ahead, viable strategies are need to be designed. These can be classified under the following heads.

(a) Net productivity increase 

(b) Quality improvement  

(c) Resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses

(d) Utilization of genetic engineering procedures

(e) Others       

(a) Net productivity increase : The productivity increase sought may be in terms of seed cotton yield or lint yield. Manipulation of boll number, boll weight and sympodial branches provide opportunities of increasing produc­tivity. In cotton, source is not a problem but sink is a constraint. Genetic variability for boll retention has to be exploited along with balance between boll number and boll weight. Fibre yield increase can be achieved through increasing ginning out turn. The possibilities of upgrading ginning out turn upto 39 per cent in G. hirsutum has been demonstrated by varieties like Sahana in South Zone.

(b) Quality improvement : Quality in terms of fibre properties and seed cotton oil are gaining importance. Innovations in spinning technology, such as open end spinning, jet spinning etc., require higher levels of fibre strength. Hence, high priority to breeding cotton for increased strength and maturity assumes impotance. The potential of improving fibre properties especially length and fineness, of diploid cultivated cotton needs to be exploited. The presence of gossypol in the oil is a negative attribute in terms of edible quality. The processing cost to remove gossypol from oil can be eliminated if the seeds have no gossypol glands. But gossypol is the main terpenoid aldehyde which imparts resistance against insects.

 (c) Abiotic stresses : Drought stress affects crop in rainfed areas and salinity in irrigated areas. Hence, resistance sources for both environments have to be utilised appropriately. Diploid cultivated cottons, which have stress tolerance capacities, occupy a sizable (27 lakh ha) area under rainfed conditions. Genetic improvement of these diploids (G. arboreum and G. herbaceum) needs to be given high and urgent priority so that these important genetic resources are not lost. Resitance breeding for salinity is as yet an untouched area. Under the biotic stresses, insects, like bollworms and diseases like CLCuV need urgent consideration for sustainable cotton production. Resistance to whitefly, which is the vector of CLCuV, provides solution to two problems simultaneously. Search for characters in wild taxa is ideal for breeding against biotic stresses. Transfer of palisade layer from G. arboreum to G. hirsutum is the best option for developing resistance to sucking pests.

(d) Utilizing genetic engineering procedures : Though Bt cottons are already in the field, they are associated with threats of insecticide resistance development against bollworms and instability in their bioefficacy. Hence, use of alternate sources of insecticidal proteins like tea complexes of P. luminacence and multiple gene constructs (of Cry genes) can be thought of, to overcome the negative points of Bt cotton technology. Sucking pests may also be brought under the umbrella of biotechnology, to build resistance in cotton genotypes. Exploitation of chitinase gene against diseases is another good option for breeding fungal disease resistance. Antisense technology can be employed to construct varieties resistant to leaf CLCuV disease.

(e) Miscellaneous : To achieve "Total Natural Fibre" concept, breeding naturally coloured cotton deserves consideration. Increasing spinnability of the coloured cottons in adddition to enhacing their productivity and range of colours are good areas for future work. Cotton is mostly cultivated as sole crop but area under cotton-based cropping system is also large. Development of genotypes suitable for different cropping system under different soil conditions deserves attention for in­ creasing the net income per unit area. The concept of ultra narrow spacing is the talk of the day. Short compact genotypes amenable for machine picking are important. These genotypes not only reduce dependence on labour for cotton picking but also fit in various cropping systems. Accelerated efforts have to be made for the overall improvement of cotton to reach at least the world average of productivity.

## Author : Collected from BSMRAU

Agribusiness Sector in Bangladesh

Agribusiness covers all aspects of trade and services associated with the production and processing of agricultural commodities, from input supply through to primary production to processing and finally marketing.

 In theory, agribusiness follows the same basic principles as other industrial sectors, with two attributes that make it different and increase its complexity.

v  Firstly, primary production is often seasonal whilst demand is much more constant this gives seasonal fluctuations in price and the need to store the product for find sources from different locations).

v  Secondly, in many developed countries government often provide considerable agricultural subsidies and intervene in both the marketing and input supplies - which often lead to considerable market distortions.

There are two sectors are playing an important role in development of Agribusiness in Bangladesh namely:

1.      Government sector

2.      NGO’S and Private sector

Future Prospects of agribusiness in Bangladesh

1.      Sustainability and rapid growth in agribusiness sector will depend on how well agribusiness can cope up in a more liberalized trade regime under the WTO framework.

2.      The business environment of Bangladesh is characterized by insufficient infrastructure facilities in the rural areas, regulated credit market, lack of standardization of products and inadequate airfreight for export of perishables.

3.      Irregular power supply, lack of appropriate technology and market related information and access to poor business development services aggravate the situation.

4.      Agribusiness in Bangladesh however has the potential for growth both in local and overseas markets.

5.      The quality of agro-products is of quite a high standard in Bangladesh.

6.      With appropriate measures, the country will have a better edge in its agro-based production, processing and marketing.

7.      Various studies indicate how local agricultural products have significant demand in the ethnic markets of UK, Middle East and the USA.

8.      The present practice of trade is concentrated on export to expatriate Bangladeshi importers who in turn sell to the Bangladeshi communities. To break this chain and increase exports, Bangladesh should strictly follow the rules and regulations for international standards and promote marketing of its agribusiness products directly.

For example, super market chains in the developed countries. With the rise of per capita income and growth in the population of about 1.86% annually demand for quality agricultural products, and processed foods have been increasing in the local markets.

There are some regulatory institutions are involved in this system

Regulatory institutions are as follow

1.      Fertilizer Act                                                                 

2.      The Pesticide Ordinance and Rules                                           

3.      Quarantine act and Rules                                                                   

4.      The Bangladesh Veterinary Practitioners Act

5.      Animal Quarantine Act

6.      Soughter House Act

7.      Fishery Conservation And regulation Act

8.      Bangladesh Standard & Testing Institution(BSTI)

9.      Customs Authority of Bangladesh

10.  All Agriculture University Laboratories in Bangladesh

11.  All Agriculture  Related  Research Laboratories in Bangladesh

12.  International Standard Institution(ISO)

13.  Pre-shipment Inspection

14.  Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points(HACCP)

## Author : Collected from BSMRAU

Export Potential of Aromatic Rice from Bangladesh

Export Potential of Aromatic Rice from Bangladesh 

"Kataribhog" rice variety can capture the basmati market, and we face no competition for our traditional aromatic rice varieties, Chinigora/Kalijira, throughout the world. The only thing needed is to provide a guaranteed price to growers and an incentive package to exporters. Bangladesh rice has been able to enter the supermarkets of Europe and the U.S.A. The proposal of providing 25 percent cash compensatory assistance to rice exporters similar to those provided to other promising export sectors (such as garments) would certainly boost the export of fine and aromatic rice.

v  Export of fine and aromatic rice will help to reduce the huge ever-widening trade gap between import and export.

v  Exporting fine and aromatic rice from Bangladesh is a welcome proposal. Export of fine and aromatic rice will also indirectly contribute to the local market stability of coarse rice - our staple food.

v  Reports on the market survey in Badamtoli, Sadarghat, and Kristi Market, Mohammadpur, do not prove the existence of 'Basmati' rice in the local market for export.

v  'Basmati' Kataribhog' -- a fine rice widely grown in Diaper - has the potential to beat the established Basmati market of Pakistan and India,

v  Exportable fine and aromatic rice is grown and milled in concentrated areas in Bangladesh: Rajshahi, Bogra, Diaper and Sherpur.

v  BRRI also released some HYV rice - BR-5 (Dhulabhog), BR-6, BR-7, BR-24, BR-26, BRRI Dhan-37, BRRI Dhan-38 and BRRI Dhan-39 which are superior to the traditional low yielding fine and aromatic rice varieties.

Production of aromatic rice

Based on the market surveys of Badamtoli Rice Market, Dhaka and krishi Market, Mohammadpur, Dhaka, and personal contact with respective DAE Offices, we have been able to collect the following information:

• Commercial scale production of fine and aromatic rice is estimated at about 44,000 MT from select eight areas of Bangladesh. This rice is also grown elsewhere in the country in small quantity. Even with conservative estimates, total production of fine and aromatic rice must exceed 100,000 MT.
• Diaper alone produces about 66 percent of all commercial fine and aromatic rice from select areas. Average yearly production of • Dinajpur for the last three years is about 26,000 MT.
• Barind tract (Rajshahi, Naogaon, Nawabganj area) produces about 15,000 MT of fine and aromatic rice. Bogra produces about 8,000 MT of the fine and aromatic rice while Sherpur produces about 3,000 MT.
• While both fine rice and aromatic rice are grown in almost equal proportion in both locations, Barind tract is more famous for production of aromatic rice (Chinigora) and Dinajpur for fine rice (Kataribhog). Bogra and Sherpur are well known for Kalijira and Chinigora -- the aromatic rice varieties.

Marketing of Aromatic Rice

§  Rice millers of Nawabganj, Dinajpur, Sherpur and Naogaon process fine and aromatic rice in their mills and generally market them to Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and other distant markets. Part of the produce goes to other divisional cities and local markets. Out of the large number of rice mills, we have been able to collect the names and addresses of 23 rice mills with varying capacities to process fine and to aromatic rice. The rice millers usually sell their produce to the Badamtoli Ride- Wholesale Market and Krishi Market, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. According to the rice traders, every month about 200 MT of fine and aromatic rice are exported from Dhaka market. October through December is the peak marketing season covering 70 percent, and June through August covering 20 percent.

## Author : Collected from BSMRAU