Bangladesh Cotton Development Board (CDB), the apex organization of Bangladesh cotton industry, has expressed hope that the country would be able to produce one million bales of cotton by 2020 via introducing BT cotton, a genetically modified organism (GMO) cotton variety.
At present, Bangladesh produces only 150,000 bales of cotton and for the requirements of the textile and readymade garment (RMG) industry. The country still has to import over 5.0 million bales of cotton every year.
The cultivation of BT cotton is expected to have a significant impact on the economy as cotton is one of the dominant import items. Also, the overall backward linkage of the garment industry, which is going through crucial times amid flooding of the market by imported products in face of lower import duty encouraging businesses to import low-priced Indian, Chinese and Indonesian yarns, is expected to get the much-needed boost with introduction of BT cotton.
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It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh – the second largest exporter of apparel after China – has largely been dependent on imported yarns and fabrics for its requirements, as per media reports.
Underlining the potential of the BT cotton, Executive Director of CDB, Farid Uddin stated, “BT cotton has the potential to increase the yields up to 20 per cent and also enhance the fibre quality.”
