IFPRI Report
Volume 20, Number 1
February 1998
Wheat-Growing in Bangladesh Should Be Encouraged, Report Finds
Although rice is more profitable in areas where it grows well, there is still a niche for wheat production in Bangladesh, according to a new IFPRI research report. Wheat Production in Bangladesh: Technological, Economic, and Policy Issues, Research Report 106, by Michael L. Morris, Nuimuddin Chowdhury, and Craig Meisner, considers whether the government of Bangladesh should promote wheat production now that the country is nearing self-sufficiency in rice, the primary staple.Should farmers in Bangladesh be allowed to grow even more rice, or should they be encouraged to diversify into wheat and other alternative crops? The issue is important, because demand for wheat is growing much faster than supply. As a result, significant quantities of wheat must be imported, both commercially and in the form of food aid. Reducing the reliance on imports may be costly, however; earlier studies concluded that wheat production is unprofitable for farmers and inefficient for the country.
Based on their analysis of data collected from more than 420 rural households, Morris and his coauthors support the conventional view that boro rice is more profitable than other crops in many lowland areas where irrigation is available. But they argue that wheat is often the most profitable option on lighter soils found at higher elevations, as well as under rainfed conditions.
Regardless of its profitability, wheat may be grown for reasons of food security. Poor rural households often plant wheat as insurance against seasonal food shortages: the report finds that two-fifths of the farmers surveyed grow wheat to ensure that food is available during the “hungry season” prior to the rice harvest. The research, conducted jointly by IFPRI and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), used actual market prices, as well as shadow prices adjusted to account for the effects of government policies, market failures, and other distortions, to compare the profitability and efficiency of two irrigated crops (wheat and boro rice) and three nonirrigated crops (wheat, oilseeds, and pulses) in five wheat-growing zones.
The profitability of wheat could be improved by changing some policies that discriminate against wheat production. Since wheat imports suppress domestic wheat prices, substituting other commodities for wheat or monetizing food aid could increase incentives to farmers by raising producer prices. Directing research efforts toward increasing wheat’s competitiveness by developing improved varieties for rainfed areas would also help. The report notes that the gap between yields on experimental plots and in farmers’ fields is unusually wide, so extension policies aimed at improving farmers’ management skills could further stimulate wheat production.
The results presented in this report have important implications, not only for Bangladesh but for many other developing countries, because they show how policymakers often overlook secondary crops and “niche” commodities that exploit local and seasonal advantages. As agriculture becomes increasingly intensified, gains from these overlooked sources will become increasingly important. (ISBN 0-89629-109-X, 95 pp.)
