Feasibility Of Export Of Rice By Bangladesh

The paper has examined the feasibility of rice export as a dual trade with the import of wheat. It has indicated that the need for such a trade arises from the likely surplus of rice that might be generated in the future due to higher growth of production of rice than its consumption, and deficit of wheat from the stagnancy of production against higher growth rate of its consumption. At the current self sufficiency of rice production, the export of rice is desirable from two stand points: first, buying higher quantity of cheap wheat with same nutritional contents as rice by taking the advantage of higher terms of trade of rice in the international market; second, starting a learning process to face future rice surplus situation. The paper has shown that export of one lakh ton of rice is unlikely to create adjustment or stabilisation problem in the domestic market as well as in the international market. It has also shown that the dual trade seems profitable.