Maiden cotton cultivation in Godagari Barind tract proves successful

RAJSHAHI, Dec 3: For the first time in Rajshahi, cotton is being commercially cultivated in water scarce, semi-rugged Barind tract of Godagari upazila of the district.

Cotton is the collective name given to four species of plants in the genus Gossypium- Gossypium hirsutum, Gossypium barbadense, Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium herbaceum which are perennial shrubs in the family Malvaceae grown for the fluffy fibre.

Nearly 350 hectares of land has been brought under cotton farming in Godagari this year under the financial assistance and supervision of Cotton Development Board in Rajshahi.

According to CDB, Rajshahi, being encouraged by successful experimental farming of cotton in various plots of drought-prone, semi-rugged Barind area, CDB took a number of projects at Paharpur, Amtola, Joitabot Tola, Basantapur and Udpur villages. Officials of CDB hope, more Barind land will be brought under cotton cultivation during the coming years.

Cotton farmer Abdul Quddus (50) informed, there having no way to irrigate his land through deep tube wells, he could not cultivate more than one crop a year. Since cotton farming requires a little or no irrigation, he resorted to using his land to cultivate cotton this year. He alongwith his brother has cultivated cotton on nine bighas of land this year, informed Quddus.

Jahangir Alam, Rajshahi district cotton development officer informed, farmers of Barind tract are being assisted with money, seed and fertiliser and they were inspecting the cotton fields regularly.

He further informed, out of cultivated 350 hectares of land, 200 bighas of land of 200 farmers have been made as exhibition plots. CDB was bearing all expenditure of cultivation of those 200 bighas of land. The farmers will have to sell all their produced cotton to CDB when the money given to the farmer by CDB will be deducted.

Mostafa Kamal, Principal Cotton Development Officer of Rajshahi informed, the price of cotton has not been fixed this year. As a result, the farmers will be paid Tk 2,525 for one maund  of cotton as the prevailing rate.

He further mentioned, the cotton industries of the country is mainly dependent on imported cotton from India, Pakistan, USA and Sudan. A mass cultivation of cotton in the Barind tract will decrease import of cotton as well as make the semi-arid land of the region useable.

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