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Rice output hits a record high

Sohel Parvez
Rice production edged up to a new high last fiscal year due to an increase in yield in all three crops seasons for favourable weather and a more balanced use of fertiliser.
Production rose to 3.44 crore tonnes in fiscal 2013-14, from 3.38 crore tonnes a year ago, thanks to a record boro output.
Boro yield rose 1.6 percent year-on-yearto 1.90 crore tonnes in fiscal 2013-14, according to a recent estimate by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Despite the rise in output,
imports started to show an upward trend in fiscal 2014-15 that began in July. Some 4,840 tonnes of rice were imported during July to September 28, according to data from the food ministry. During July to September 18 last year, 990 tonnes of rice were imported.
" Maybe some importers are bringing in rice from neighbouring countries to reap price benefits," said Abul Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of Chittagong-based BSM Group.
This was another year of increased rice yield despite falling cultivable land to grow the staple.
The country stands well above its annual food grain consumption requirement of less than three crore tonnes, according to a study by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
The research organisation estimated that the daily per capita food grain consumption was 509 grams, including rice at 462 grams.
As a result, retail prices of rice have remained stable in the past couple of months. One of the main reasons behind this is a high level of global production of rice and wheat.
Rice output hits a record high
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Food grain prices have been the lowest in recent years worldwide, Chowdhury said.
Banking on higher production and increased public stocks, the government has decided to export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka under a special arrangement.
The government decision comes at a time when damage to aman seedlings due to recurrent floods is feared to affect production.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said most farmers were able to replant the seedlings of the second biggest crop on their affected fields after the floods.
But recent floods in some districts have affected crops, mostly aman paddy, on 1.13 lakh hectares of land, said a senior official of the DAE, seeking anonymity.
The DAE targeted to bring 52.50 lakh hectares of crop land under aman cultivation. So far, 55.05 lakh hectares have come under transplantation, the official said.
"Farmers replanted more than 90 percent of the seedlings in the fields damaged by the floods. But the recurrence of the floods is more depressing," he said.
The DAE aims to ensure production of 1.34 crore tonnes of rice from aman cultivation. It also targets 24 lakh tonnes of the staple during the aus season by ensuring cultivation on 10.55 lakh hectares.
The US Department of Agriculture lowered its prediction on Bangladesh's rice harvest last month. It says Bangladesh may harvest 3.46 crore tonnes of rice in the current fiscal year, down from its previous projection of 3.48 crore tonnes.