Bangladesh Gets Into Organic Cotton

"Farmers in Bogra district have recently produced organic cotton for the first time without using chemical fertilizer and pesticide.

Instead of chemical fertilizer and pesticide, they used compost fertilizer and natural pesticide produced from urban organic waste and 'neem' respectively in the fields of organic cotton filed.

The initiative was taken to assess the economic feasibility of growing environment friendly organic cotton commercially in Bangladesh, Director of Waste Concern, one of the leading waste management organizations in the country, Iftekhar Enayetullah told BSS here today.

Waste Concern in partnership with Mohipur Agriculture Training Institute (MATI) with the support of UK-based 'People Tree' produced organic cotton under a pilot project on one hector of lands this year.

Bangladesh Cotton Development Board provided good quality of cotton seeds, required manpower and supports to the pilot project. The success achieved from one hector of lands proves that organic cotton will open a new opportunity in the world market for the Bangladeshi farmers, Iftekhar said.

Executive Director of Waste Concern AHM Maqsood Sinha said the weather in Bangladesh is quite conducive to producing organic cotton side by side with the traditional cotton."

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