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Bangladesh Agribusiness Report Q4 2009Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Sep. 4, 2009 - 44 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractThe large harvests of rice and wheat for 2009 will serve to allay some of the annual fears over feedingBangladesh's large population of more than 140mn. The boro rice harvest is estimated to be around 19mntonnes, up from 17.8mn in 2008. Total rice production for the year will be around 33mn tonnes. Thisshould be more than enough to meet domestic demand. The large increase in grain production comesfollowing a government effort to boost production by improving access to inputs and credit.The large harvest is indeed good news for the country. However, Bangladesh's food security worries arefar from over. The 2010 crop has been put in jeopardy by the late onset of the monsoon. Poor rains inJune and the first half of July have delayed planting in many parts of the country. The torrentialdownpours of late July have come as a major relief. The late rains, however, have once again highlightedthe vulnerabilities of Bangladesh's agricultural sector. With many scientists predicting that the country'sweather woes will only worsen in future, developing new farming techniques and seed varieties will beessential. The climate isn't the only thing threatening domestic agriculture. The country is one of the world's mostdensely populated and as the economy develops, pressure on land will only increase. Arable land isshrinking at an alarming rate as demand for land for habitation and industrial use grows. The high rate ofpopulation growth in the country will only make things worse. In the medium term, investment in newseed varieties and wider access to fertiliser mean that improving yields should be able to compensate forthe falling land area. In the longer term, however, it seems likely that food security problems will becomemore severe as agricultural production peaks and then begins to decline as land becomes more scarce. Investment in research into improving yields is therefore essential for the long-term health of theagricultural sector. While most government attention has been on improving production of the staple food rice, it is thegrowth of corn production that has been most impressive over the past decade. Corn production has shotup from a few thousand tonnes a year in the mid-1990s to more than 1mn tonnes in 2008. This has beendriven by increasing demand for feed from the poultry industry. The widespread use of hybrid seeds hasseen some of the highest average yields in the region. The high yields have meant that although inputcosts are high, farmers receive a large return on their investment. Corn has become a popular alternativeto wheat or boro rice. There are, however, potential problems ahead and we expect growth in production to slow considerably inthe coming years. The high intensity nature of corn production in Bangladesh and often poor knowledgeof the proper use of fertiliser has been putting a strain on the soil. The rise in yields appears to be taperingoff and could even go into decline in the coming years. Despite this, the rise of corn production is asuccess story that shows what can be achieved when high-potential inputs are made available to farmers. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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