Bridging the gap in cotton research and development

 

To build a hunger and poverty free 'Sonar Bangla' the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has given high priority to both agriculture and industrialization. His vision was that apart from poverty alleviation, agriculture would also provide raw materials for the industrial sector. Bangabandhu rightly realized that the cotton-based industry would play a vital role in Bangladesh economy in future.

In order to support the textile industries, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman established the Cotton Development Board on December 14, 1972. Cotton value chain, linking from farm to fashion, in Bangladesh is now well established. Ginners' procured seed cotton from the farmers. Seed cotton contains seed and fiber. In the ginning process seed and fiber are separated. Fiber used in the spinning industries for making yarn and seed is crushed to edible oil and oilcake. Oilcake used for animal/poultry feed. Indeed, cotton became a model crop in Bangladesh considering the agriculture contribution to industry which also created employment opportunities for millions of people particularly for the women.

Similarly, our honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has prioritized cotton research and development in Bangladesh. Consequently, in the 2018-2019 growing season, cotton was cultivated on 44,185 hectares of lands in Bangladesh from which 1, 71, 400 bales of fiber was produced. This quantity was the highest in our country since 1972. Presently, the cotton productivity in Bangladesh is the highest among the neighboring cotton growing countries like India, Pakistan, Myanmar etc. The average cotton yield in Bangladesh is 2773 kilogram per hectare. This achievement has been made possible only because of Bangabandhu's vision on contribution of agriculture to industry and proper nourishment by the honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The demand of cotton fiber for mill use in Bangladesh is increasing day to day. To meet the ever increasing demand of cotton fiber by our textile sector, technological innovation is utmost necessary for bridging the gap in cotton research and development needs.

Long Term Vision on Cotton Research and Development

In the 2019-20 marketing year (August 2019 to July 2020) Bangladesh imported 71 lac bales (1 bale = 182 kg/ha) of cotton fiber. At the current growth rate, it is projected that Bangladesh will need 100 lac bales of cotton fiber within 2041. CDB has set a target to produce 20 lac bales of cotton fiber within 2041.

In the 2019-2020 growing season American upland cotton was cultivated over 27250 hectares of land and the per hectare lint yield was 6.15 bales. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the top five highest lint producing countries in 2019-2020 growing season are Australia (11.3 bale/ha), Israel (10.5 bale/ha), China (9.6 bale/ha), Brazil (9.3 bale/ha) and Turkey (8.8 bale/ha). 

At the current rate of cotton fiber yield (6.15 bale/ha), to produce 20 lac bales cotton cultivation needs to expand over 3.25 lac hectares of land. Cotton is grown only on high land that should be free from flood water. Thus, it is very difficult to expand cotton over 3.25 lac hectares of land. The feasible option is to increase lint yield from 6.16 bale/ha to 10 bale/ha and to expand cotton cultivation over 2 lac hectares of land.

Suitability of cotton in Kharif 2 season, a study conducted by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), showed that 25.59 ha of land is highly suitable for cotton cultivation. Thus, it is possible to expand cotton over 2 lac hectares of land by engaging an adequate number of Officers in cotton extension.

CDB conducts research to develop hybrid and short duration high yielding cotton varieties with desirable fiber characteristics, to generate agronomic management technologies to increase productivity, integrated management of soil fertility combining organic and inorganic sources of fertilizer, development of bio-pesticide in controlling cotton insect pest, cotton disease management, identification of cotton seed health and identification of the factors affecting the cotton fiber quality. Besides, research on stress management has been prioritized to expand cotton cultivation in the hill, char, saline and drought areas.

Currently, cotton research has been conducted in 5 disciplines (Breeding, Agronomy, Entomology, Pathology and Soil Science) at the 5 Cotton research Centers located at Mahiganj (Rangpur), Sreepur (Gazipur), Sadarpur (Dinajpur), Jagadishpur (Jashore), Balaghata (Bandarban)  and 3 Sub-Centers (Raicha, Bandarban; Kawkhali, Rangamati & Matiranga, Khagrachari). Till to date CDB has generated 73 technologies.

All of the generated technologies are transferred successfully to our cotton farmers. As a consequence, cotton yield is the highest in Bangladesh among the neighboring cotton growing countries like India, Pakistan, and Myanmar etc.  However, to achieve the target to produce 10 bales/ha cotton fiber, adaptation of innovative research is necessary for improvement of cotton varieties.

Current Status of Cotton Research for Yield and Quality Improvement

 Cotton growth and productivity are severely affected by the many biotic and abiotic factors. There are several methods used in cotton improvement. The important cotton improvements methods are plant introduction, acclimatization, mutation breeding, tissue culture and genetic engineering. Plant introduction and acclimatization are widely used methods for cotton improvement in Bangladesh through which CDB has released 22 high yielding cotton varieties. With the technical support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, in 2016-17, CDB initiated cotton mutation breeding program. This year CDB will release first Mutant Cotton Variety in Bangladesh. The salient features of this mutant variety are high and uniform yielding capacity in wide agro-ecological zones under high density and rain-fed condition.

For introduction of Bt Cotton in Bangladesh, CDB has signed a MOU with JK Agri-Genetics Ltd. to introduce Bt cotton hybrids containing truncated Cry 1Ac gene and obtained permission from NCB in October 2017. A trail with two Bt hybrids, JKCH 1947 Bt, JKCH 1050 Bt, were initiated in August 2018 at BARI's contained greenhouse. The trial result indicated that JKCH 1947 Bt and JKCH 1050 Bt are resistant to cotton bollworm. Followed by, NCB approved for confined field trial at Cotton Research Center, Sreepur, Gazipur on March 2020 and the trial was initiated on July 2020. 

In order to enhance CDB,s capacity in cotton varieties development a Bangladesh-Turkey-Islamic Development Bank Reverse Linkage Project on 'Enhancing Capacity in Cotton Varieties Development', a Technical Assistance Project, is currently  implemented by the Cotton Development Board (CDB) with the financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) together with the development partners including Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TIKA), Presidency For Turks Abroad And Related Communities (YTB), Ozaltine limited ( a private Turkish seed company) and Turkish Airlines (THY).

This project is designed to increase CDB's capacity in cotton varieties development through research and development collaboration and technology transfer between Cotton Development Board of Bangladesh and Nazilli Cotton Research Institute of Turkey. The project activities include: 1. long-term training on cotton research in Turkey, 2. short-term training on production practices in Turkey and 3. joint cotton research in Bangladesh. Within the scope of this project, CDB received 12 high yielding cotton varieties from Turkey. With these varieties 35 experiments are ongoing at 5 Cotton Research Centers.
 
Research Gap

In order to develop desired cotton varieties, CDB needs to adopt tissue culture and genetic engineering technologies. Tissue culture is considered to be the most efficient technology for crop improvement. The micropropagation technology has a vast potential to produce plants of superior quality, isolation of useful variants in well-adapted high yielding genotypes with better disease resistance and stress tolerance capacities. As an emerging technology, the plant tissue culture has a great impact on agriculture, through providing plants needed to meet the ever increasing world demand. It has made significant contributions to the advancement of agricultural sciences in recent times and today they constitute an indispensable tool in modern agriculture. Biotechnology has been introduced into agricultural practice at a rate without precedent. Genetic engineering can make possible a number of improved crop varieties with high yield potential and resistance against biotic and abiotic stress. Currently, plant tissue culture is used for:

*    Production of improved crop varieties

*    Production of disease-free plants

*    Genetic transformation

*    Production of secondary metabolites

*    Production of varieties tolerant to salinity, drought and heat stresses

Although various NARS institutes in Bangladesh have made remarkable success in the areas of plant tissue culture, CDB is lagging behind because of the lack of the required number of the Cotton Researcher and a well-facilitated tissue culture laboratory.

 On 19 September 2020 our Honorable Agriculture Minister, Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque MP during the foundation stone laying ceremony of 'Tula Bhaban', a multistoried office building for CDB, said that the government had given importance in cotton production. It is possible to produce 20 lac bales of cotton by CDB, the target set by our respectable Agriculture Secretary Md. Nasiruzzaman during this ceremony.  To enhance cotton production and to develop new varieties suitable for the Bangladesh climate, the government is supporting CDB through various development projects. However, to achieve that target CDB's research gap in tissue culture and genetic engineering should be minimized by recruiting the required number of Cotton Researcher and allocating a floor of 'Tula Bhaban' for establishing a Tissue Culture and Genetic Engineering Laboratory.


Dr. Md. Kamrul Islam, Senior Scientific Officer and Project Director, Bangladesh-Turkey-Islamic Development Bank Reverse Linkage Project, CDB (HQ).
E-mail: [email protected]