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| Cotton plant |
In Bangladesh Garments Industries contribute 27% of GDP, due to low labour costs and quota free export to the European market. The Garments industry has been flourishing in Bangladesh, Ready made garments (RMG) accounts for about 75% of the total export earning. But cotton production did not increase as expected due to several constrains.
Origin and distribution
Cotton has been under cultivation since ancient times in South Asia and Central America.Excavations in Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan revealed the occurrence of cotton in the form of fragments of cloth covering the house hold articles. which date to 3000 B.C.Cotton is grown over 80 countries from 40 degree N latitude in Ukraine to 32 degree S in Australia and South America.In Bangladesh cotton is mainly grown in the districts of Jessore, Kushtia, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Dhaka, tangail.The outstanding qualities of cotton as superior textile fiber are
1.High tensile strength2.Dimensional stability3.Long durability4.Friction with other materials5.Good weaving quality6.Launder ability
Classification of cotton
The cultivated cotton can be classified into two types:
2.The Asiatic or Old World cotton: (n=13) consisting of a) Gossypium arboreum and b) Gossypium herbaceum.
Variety
The sowing period for upland cotton is from July to February. Harvesting is generally completed by late February. Main varieties of American cotton grown in Bangladesh are CB-1 (Deltapine-90), CB-3(Deltapine-50), CB-5(a cross between Deltapine and indigenous variety), CB-9(Developed from SI/91/646)and CB-10(developed from BC-0397). Of these, CB-5 and CB-9 has some tolerance to Jassids, CB-9 is the most commonly grown variety covering 60% of the total area under American cotton and CB-10 is considered as short duration variety.
Inter cropping
To make the cotton cultivation profitable and to provide additional income to the farmers, the introduction of inter and relay cropping with well experienced management practices have open up a new hope of better competitiveness of cotton crop in cotton cultivation. So, much emphasis and stress have been given to inter and relay cropping of cotton for getting more total income from the same piece of land. This system of cotton cultivation has already gained popularity due to the rational and tireless efforts of CDB extension staff. Among the inter crops Amaranths sp. (Red amaranth, amaranth), radish (as leafy vegetables), onion, mungbean, chili, turmeric, ginger etc. have been successfully cultivated as inter and relay crops with cotton. Farmers are getting about 25%more net profit by growing different leafy vegetables and about 50% by growing turmeric/ginger with cotton. Sowing of wheat between cotton rows in November also revealed encouraging results. Inter cropping of ground nut with cotton was also reported to give more total income over the sole cotton.
some inter cropping patterns of cotton with other crops
Growth stages of cotton
Cotton is an intermediate plant exhibiting overlapping vegetative and reproductive growth and vegetative phases which depends upon the variety, latitude, climate and management practices.
1.Germination phase: After optimum ambient condition, the germination and the emergence is completed within 4-7 days.
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| Germinated plant |
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| vegetative phase |
3.Squaring: The first square (flower bud) appears between 35 to 70 days after seedling emergence depending upon on the variety, location, crop husbandry.
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| Squaring phase |
4. Flowering: The first flowering appears about 20-35 days after squaring and continues for about 60-80 days or more.
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| Flowering phase |
5. Boll development: The period commences from flowering period and continues till maturity.During the first 15-18 days after the fertilization , the bolls attain 90% of their final size.
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| Boll development phase |
Cultivation technology of cotton
Land preparation: For cotton cultivation deep ploughing is essential.The soil should be loose and friable.Three to four ploughings followed by cross ploughings and laddering are essential to bring the soil to a good tilth for cotton cultivation.The land should be well laveled and weed free.
Seed rate: The seed rate of cotton varies from 10 to 12 kg/ha.
Spacing: Spacing depends on plant type, canopy spread. soil fertility etc. The optimum spacing for cotton is 90cm row to row and 45cm plant to plant.
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| Ridges and furrows method |
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| Dibble the seed at 5cm depth |
Fertilizer recommendation:
Recommendation dose of fertilizer for cotton cultivation(kg/ha)
N
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P
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K
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S
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Zn
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112-148
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34-44
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100-132
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19-24
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4-6
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Inter cultural operation
1.Thinning: It is done twice , firstly within 10 DAE keeping two seedling per hill and secondly within 20 DAE keeping single seedling per hill.
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| Final thinning |
2.Gap filling stage: Gap filling should be done by resowing within 8-1
3. Rouging
4. Weeding: Weed reduce crop yield seriously.The critical period for weed competition in cotton ranges from sowing to 60DAE. So cotton field should be kept weed free at least up to 60DAS.
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| Weeding |
5. Watering: The water requirement of cotton is low during seedling to first flowering , and high during peak flowering and again low during boll maturation phase.
6. Topping: The removal of apical bud.
7. Top dressing:
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Post harvest technology
To maintain the quality of fiber for textile industry and good quality seed for oil extraction , care should be taken to handle the picked cotton. Kapas picked from open bolls should not be contaminated with dried leaves and other foreign matter.
| Some post harvest technologies | |
Cotton fiber quality
The quality that influences the market value of cotton fiber are-
-Ginning percentage
-Grad
-Fiber lngth
-Fiber strength
-Fiber maturity
Yield:
Seed cotton average yield in Bangladesh is 2ton/ha.
Problems Associated with Cotton Production in Bangladesh
The following are the major problems associated with cotton production in Bangladesh.
1. Underdeveloped research activities
Research section is considered the key of development. This section did not improved due to lack of trained manpower, laboratory facilities, adequate fund, collaborative project with foreign countries etc.
2. Low yield
Modern production technologies were not developed. Varieties are low yielding.
3. Long duration crop
Long duration crop needs 6-7 month for production. Commercial five varieties are grown in Bangladesh namely, CB-1, CB-3, CB-5, CB-9, and CB-10. Out of five varieties, only CB-5 and CB-9 are hairy varieties which are slightly tolerant to sucking pests and all the varieties are long duration and they need at least six months. Some of the private companies have been imported hybrid seeds for trial to see the yield performance but these are not performing better than open pollinated varieties developed by CDB in addition it needs high inputs for cultivation.
4. High input cost
High input cost, particularly fertilizer and pesticides. This is because of the heavy reliance on pesticides for cotton pest management.
5. Competition from other crops
At present cotton is highly competitive with other crops and in many cotton growing areas farmers find it more profitable to grow other crops such as rice, maize, vegetables, banana, flowers, tobacco etc. than cotton. That’s why farmers are migrating to other crops.
6. Insect pests and Diseases of cotton
Similar to many countries, cotton in Bangladesh is major polluter crop due to the heavy and indiscriminate pesticide use, especially insecticides for Aphids, Jassids and cotton bollworms. The number of insecticide sprays exceeds 15-20 per season bringing the cost of insecticides to more than 40% of total input costs and triggering pest resurgence and secondary out breaks. Important insect pests of American cotton in Bangladesh include the chewing insect namely American bollworm, spotted bollworm and pink bollworms and the sucking insects namely the Jassids, aphids and whitefly. SometimeSpodoptera is also become a serious pest in some areas of Bangladesh. The insect pest complex on Hill cotton is similar to American cotton.
7. Weed problem
During cotton cultivation, in Bangladesh high rainfall and high temperature prevail that enhance huge growth of upland weeds leads to increase cost of production.
8. Low market price for cotton
In Bangladesh, the price fixed by CDB for its procurement of seed cotton from its contact farmers also influences the general market price. The CDB rate itself is fixed by a committee. International market price is the main factor that is considered by fixing the cotton price in Bangladesh. So, cotton price is the important factor in determining future cotton production in Bangladesh.
Future Direction
1. Cotton based multiple cropping patterns:
The land resource is very much limited in the country. Cropping intensity of Bangladesh is very high (about 180%). Farmers expect to have maximum total return from their land in a given time period. Many farmers show reluctance in cotton cultivation for its long maturation period of about 6 months. As such, a short duration variety of around 4.5 months combined with moderate yield is very much needed to satisfy the long felt demand of farmers. This type of variety may be accommodated very effectively in the cropping patterns of northern districts particularly where winter comes earlier than the other parts of country. More emphasis will be given on intercropping, relay cropping and cotton based sequential cropping.
2. Insect/Pest Issue
Sucking pest infestation at an early stage of crop growth is quite hazardous and very often escapes the notice of farmers causing heavy damages to the non-hairy cotton varieties under cultivation in the country. Cultivation hairy variety is most effective measure in controlling the infestation. Work on this dimension of research is going on since 1985. A highly tolerant variety to sucking to sucking pest attack associated with higher yield is yet to be found out. The newly evolved variety CB-9 is moderately tolerant Jassid. Research in this line would be strengthening to find out a Jassid tolerant cotton variety with high yield potential. Bollworm especially American bollworm is another virulent insect causes most of the damages to cotton crop. Hand picking of larvae followed by use of insecticides at economic injury level under the IPM concept is found to be very effective and economical in controlling the attack of this insect. However, farmers are not to be attentive in adopting this method. The farmers spraying insecticides, which is not very effective neither the practice is economic. The farmers needed training in this area as well as well as they are to be motivated for effective control of bollworm.
3. Variety Development
An exclusive attempt on exploitation of genetic resources in cotton is very much needed for developing a variety with wide desired variability. CDB has more than 400 germplasms in their gene bank. But due to short of adequate qualified personnel and other required other required facilities, this highly technical aspect of research has not taken up yet. CDB likes to be adequately strengthened with the required facilities to upgrade its capability to embark upon the vital research program for full exploitation of the potential genetic resources already available at our gene bank. Research on genetic resources will be initiated to utilize the broad genetic diversification of the crop especially development of hybrid and transgenic cotton (Bt) which is resistant for specific insect with high yielding capacity. Cotton varieties capable of tolerance to excess moisture and water logged condition of soil will also be considered in due attention
4. Low cost management
Reduced cost is the basic way of profit. Cost may be reduced through reduced tillage, foliar application of nutrients, use of selective herbicides , IPM practice etc are being introduced.
5. Education and training
Provision of higher education and training in all level of manpower in CDB to be qualified for research and extension have been planned. Cotton farmers will also o be trained.
So we can say that if we want to develop status of cotton in Bangladesh the area of cooperation may be-
1. Transfer of modern generated technologies to our country like Bt cotton, short duration variety, dwarf variety, selective herbicides, hybrid cotton etc.
2. Developing information net work related to cotton research and development.
3. Providing higher education and training to create qualified manpower for research and extension which is urgent need.
4. Providing Consultants for development of net work of cotton research, extension and training.
5. Considering Bangladesh while developing new collaborative project
