With farmers preparing to plant maize for the winter, seed sellers and businesses expect an increase in acreage because of higher prices of the grain and Bangladesh’s import dependence in covering the shortage of the grain used by feed mills.
A crop disease which has yet to be identified is devastating maize fields in the western district of Chuadanga, dashing the hopes of local farmers to turn a profit from producing the cereal grain.
Bangladesh is expected to produce more maize this year as farmers, encouraged by profitable prices, have planted the coarse grains on an increased area of land.