BANGLADESH (10 February)
The main crops presently in the ground are wheat and irrigated boro rice planted from late-November to January and harvested beginning in mid-April. This rice crop accounts for almost 45 percent of total annual rice production. The aggregate paddy production in 2003 has been estimated at a record 39.9 million tonnes largely because of a good Aman crop harvested in December. This level of production would be 4.5 percent higher than for the previous year, and 13 percent more than the average for the preceding five years. The wheat output in 2003 has been estimated as close to last year’s level.
Reflecting an adequate level of government-held food grain stocks and good harvest prospects, the overall food supply situation is good. However, the malnutrition rate in Bangladesh is among the highest in the world, and a sizeable proportion of the population is vulnerable to food shortages, especially in the northern districts, where at least 24 people reportedly died of starvation-induced diseases in September and October 2003. Import requirements in the marketing year ending June 2004 are expected to reach 2.3 million tonnes.