Self-sufficiency in food
As per Comparative Production Cost theory of economics a country engages itself in producing such things which can be grown easily, sufficiently and at comparatively low cost.
We produce almost everything of our need, but as our country is very small and the population is very high, every year we have to import rice, wheat, pulses and many other things. If we have sufficient foreign currency, generally we do not face any problem importing the food items. But, sometimes we cannot import rice and other food items for various reasons. At that time the prices of such things go up.
Some years ago, the price of rice in international market went up very abnormally. Many countries stopped their export considering meeting their internal demand first. At that time India fixed the price of per tonne of rice at $1000 which was three times higher.
This year the production of wheat in some major countries is lower due to drought. Russia, Uzbekistan, Canada and some other countries will have to cancel their agreement with the importing countries, as they could not grow wheat at expected quantities this year. Probably, people in many countries will have to consume less bread.
Bangladesh faces different natural calamities almost every year and our production of rice depends on weather. We have to control our population growth and at the same time increase production of rice, wheat and maize. It is very risky to depend on other countries for meeting our local demand.
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