FOODGRAIN PRODUCTION IN BANGLADESH: THE POTENTIAL FOR WHEAT

Bangladesh has been suffering from a chronic foodgrain shortage. Consequently she has been importing 1.4 to 2.7 million tons of foodgrain annually, 90 per cent of which is wheat. The cost of foodgrain import consumes about 25 to 35 per cent of available foreign assistance. To make the country self-sufficient in foodgrain production the Bangladesh Government put emphasis on the introduction of high yielding varieties (HYV) of rice. But the record of success of HYV rice has been limited due to technical and socio-economic constraints. Since the inputs and water requirements of HYV wheat are lower than that of HYV rice, this paper made efforts to explore the potential of wheat production keeping in view, however, of the limitations in the long term. It also suggested to direct research activities to develop drought resistant food crops.