Bangladesh’s cotton production has been low as farmers are opting for other cash crops to the white fibre, missing out on at least a $3-billion domestic market. The country produced only 1.77 lakh bales of cotton last year, which was insufficient to meet the demand of even a single spinning mill. This has made Bangladesh one of the largest cotton importers.

The country’s production last year was nearly 1 per cent of the total annual consumption of 9 million bales of cotton. Some 480 pounds, or 218 kilogrammes, make a bale.

Spinners, millers and other users have to spend more than $3 billion annually to buy cotton from India, the United States, Africa, Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Central Asian nations.

The output has increased by 10,000 bales annually over the last five years, but the quantity has not touched 2 lakh bales.

Cotton Development Board executive director Mohammad Akhteruzzaman blames the scarcity of arable land, emphasis on food production and lower price of cotton for the farmers' lack of interest in growing the crop.