Cotton is a basic raw material for both the textile and RMG industries. But the country produces a maximum of only one lakh bales of cotton a year. Compared to that, the country's cotton consumption is more than 20 lakh bales a year, according to Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).

But, the government has not taken any effective step to increase cotton production by providing research and subsidy facilities. Failure in introducing high-yielding varieties has contributed to marginalisation of cotton production, Cotton Development Board (CDB) officials said.

"If the cotton-producing countries don't produce more than they themselves need for their textile and garment industries, they are not going to export. In such cases, we'll be in trouble," said Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) President Fazlul Haque.

The Bangladesh RMG sector already enjoys some competitiveness in the global market and a boost in the production of local cotton could make its backward linkage industry even stronger, making the sector highly competitive, he said.

"The whole appearance of the garments industries would be different if enough high-quality cotton could be produced locally," said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) former president Annisul Huq.

The business bodies concerned in the sector however never thought of developing local cotton production, assuming that the climate and soil in the country are not in favour of cotton cultivation.

CDB officials, however, said it is possible to increase cotton production greatly by introducing high-yielding and even genetically modified (GM) varieties as is being done in some affluent countries like the USA and Australia, and even in India.

If cotton is produced locally, its prices will be at least 15 to 20 percent less and will cut the RMG production cost significantly, BKMEA leaders said.

A pound of cotton on the global market costs on average about 70 cents and the textile industry has to spend over $400 million a year to import more than 20 lakh bales of cotton, they added.

CDB Executive Director Abdul Baten said the ministry of establishment is considering a CDB proposal to appoint researchers to conduct researches on how to cut the production cost, duration and pestilence of cotton farming.

The government in 2001 had undertaken a project with financial support from the European Union and technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that trained about 4,000 farmers, who later spread the knowledge and skills to others.

But, despite the fact that the project was completed in October 2004, there has not been any impact of it on the total cotton production.

The government, however, also has initiated a programme of increasing the production of major crops, including cotton, by 25 per cent. Under this programme, extending cotton cultivation to the char lands in Pabna, Natore, Manikganj and Sirajganj and the high vast lands in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Lalmonirhat could see some success, CDB sources hoped.

The US and the EU countries continuously conduct researches and develop high-yielding varieties of cotton to reduce costs of pesticide and production, a CDB official said, adding control of pestilence reduces the production cost by at least 40 percent. "If we can do it successfully, we could also profit from more production," he said.

The government also provides no subsidy for cotton cultivation, though most of the cotton-exporting countries subsidise the crop highly. "Subsidy could also encourage the farmers to grow more cotton," he noted.

The USA provided $12.47 billion subsidy to farmers between August 1999 and July 2003, while its share in world cotton exports increased from 17 percent in 1998-99 to 42 percent in 2002-03.

The EU countries also pay cotton farmers $1.07 billion a year in subsidy, says a Wall Street Journal report.

Last year GM cotton accounted for 28 percent of all cotton lands globally and one-ninth of the world's total area of GM crops, according to the World Bank.

BTMA President MA Awal however expressed a different view on local cotton production, saying growing food grains is more important here and producing various types of high-quality cotton might not be possible in the country.

He said the cotton-producing countries like India and China are also not so competitive, though they provide huge incentives in different forms at different stages from production to their end use.