There are no quantitative restrictions on private rice imports. Due to lower transport costs, reduced time of delivery and the possibility of smaller import contracts delivered by trucks, India has emerged as a major supplier of rice to Bangladesh in recent years. Calendar year 2000 imports are forecast at 300,000 tons, down 83 percent from 1999. The import duty on rice increased from zero to five percent at the start of 2000. Favorable weather, adequate input supplies and increased acreage contributed to the large production increase.
Rice is the most important food grain in Bangladesh.
It is grown during three seasons and is planted on nearly three-fourths of the country s cultivated land. In the past decade, total seeded area has remained relatively stable at about 10.5 million hectares. The majority of imports are sourced from India due to its freight advantage and land transportation facilities. In CY 1999, India supplied 1.742 million tons of rice out of a total 1.786 million tons imported by Bangladesh that year. Imports of hybrid rice seed have been allowed since late 1998, and in 1999, the private trade imported 2,200 tons from China and India.