Target set for 42pc higher corn production

The government is looking to produce 42 per cent higher corn at 56.93 lakh tonnes in the current fiscal year to meet the growing demand for grains in the feed industry.

"Work is underway to increase the annual maize production to one crore tonnes within the next five years," said Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque.

The production of corn, also known as maize, rose 12.50 per cent year-on-year to 40.15 lakh tonnes in the fiscal year 2019-20. The agriculture ministry has set a target to produce one crore tonnes of the grain by 2025 through innovation and modern technical assistance.

"If we can do this, the country will not only achieve self-sufficiency but will also earn a lot of foreign currency through exports," Razzaque said in a press release recently.

Over the past decade, many farmers in Bangladesh switched from other crops to maize to profit from the burgeoning demand of the produce from the local feed mills.

These mills annually produce nearly 60-70 lakh tonnes of feed for the country's sizeable livestock and aquaculture sectors.

Maize accounts for about 50 to 60 per cent of the raw material required to make feed, which is mostly consumed by poultry farms.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently predicted that corn production in Bangladesh would reach 45 lakh tonnes by the end of 2020-21 marketing year, up 1 lakh tonnes from the official forecast of the agency.

If this prediction is realised, the corn production would be a 9.7 per cent higher than USDA's official 2019-20 estimate. The agency's marketing year starts in May and ends in April.

The agriculture ministry has targeted to produce 56.93 lakh tonnes maize in the current fiscal year.

Some farmers are reporting lower yields due to heavy rains before harvest, said the USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) in its Grain and Feed Update on Bangladesh.

Corm imports are forecast to increase slightly to 15 lakh tonnes.

According to the Trade Data Monitor, global corn exports to Bangladesh rose 39.2 per cent over the first five months in the current marketing year compared to last year.

The retail price of corn has also increased compared to its value last month because of the recent floods and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In October, the average corn retail price was Tk 22 per kilogram, 28 per cent higher than in last year, the USDA report said.

Maize was cultivated on 5.40 lakh hectares in the ongoing marketing year, up from 5.10 lakh hectares a year earlier.

FAS Dhaka's forecast for Bangladesh's corn consumption for the 2020-21 marketing year is 50,000 tonnes above the official USDA forecast of 55 lakh tonnes.

If realised, the consumption of corn would increase by 5.8 per cent compared to the previous year.

According to a recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, corn has two distinct uses in Bangladesh: it is a major ingredient in feed for livestock and fish, and for humans, it is used for popcorn and cornflour.

The USDA report said the pandemic had not had a significant impact on Bangladesh's grain production for the marketing year.

However, severe weather conditions in Bangladesh, which started in May and ended in August, has impacted the country's rice production and moderately impacted its corn production, it added.

Maize is the second-largest crop in Bangladesh after paddy and accounted for about 10 per cent of the total grain production in the last fiscal year.