It highlights that Bangladesh requires around 8 million bales of cotton annually, but nearly 97% is imported, costing about $8 billion (≈ Tk 90,000 crore) each year. Despite having fertile land and producing high-quality cotton—better than India and Pakistan—the country grows only about 200,000 bales in districts like Chuadanga, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Dinajpur, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This is the first episode of a special series report on cotton cultivation by Sushanta Singha.

Farmers say they could expand cotton cultivation, but government policies discourage them. Cotton is not even officially recognized as an agricultural crop, and while imported cotton is tax-free, domestic cotton faces a 4% tax, making local production less competitive. This policy bias is holding back growth in a sector that could save Bangladesh billions in foreign exchange and strengthen its garment industry, the world’s second largest.