Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/10/2015 -- We hold a cautious outlook towards the Bangladesh agriculture sector over the short term . The latest finding of high levels of toxic substances in poultry feed provide s much cause for concern as it reflects on the low food safety standards employed by the country, even in its largest agriculture sector. Indeed, structural problems still plague the industry. In the medium term , for example, the frequent occurrences of strikes, or hartals and road blockages , will keep our optimism for the industry at bay as these often aggravate the logistical challenges of food transportation within the country, causing the biggest h eadache to farmers.

Get More Details on this Report and a Full Table of Contents at Bangladesh Agribusiness Report Q4 2015

Over the long term, we believe there is much more room for growth and improvement in sub-sectors such as grains and livestock. That said, as the agriculture sector in Bangladesh employs close to 70% of the working population but contributes to only 20% of the country's GDP, there is an obvious need for improvement in efficiency of operations. Genetically modified (GM) food policy is also an interesting area to look out for as Bangladesh is undoubtedly one of the most open Asian countries to GM food cultivation.

Key Forecasts

- Wheat production growth to 2018/19: 21.5% to reach 1.5mn tonnes. The main driver behind this growth will be an improvement in yields. Wheat cultivation remains a preferred option for non-irrigated land given the low requirement for input use (fertiliser, insecticides and labour).

- Sugar production growth to 2018/19: 17.3% growth to 111,500 tonnes. Production will fail to return to the levels reached in the early 2000s. With farmers increasingly planting more profitable cash crops, such as cotton, we do not foresee sugar production to pick up significantly any time soon.

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