An Economic Perspective of the Export Potentiality of Aromatic Rice in Bangladesh

The study was conducted to assess the export potential of aromatic rice in Bangladesh as well as identify the factors affecting gross return from aromatic rice production. About 45 aromatic rice farms were selected from five villages of Dinajpur district using stratified sampling method for the study. Data were analyzed with a combination of descriptive statistics, mathematical and statistical techniques. Cobb-Douglas production function represented that three out of seven independent variables had significant impact on gross return from aromatic rice production. The significant variables were education, power tiller cost and fertilizer cost. Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) analysis showed that Bangladesh had comparative advantage in aromatic rice production both from the view point of export and import substitution, as DRC was 0.51 and 0.64 for import and export parity prices, respectively. The study suggests that price of fertilizer, seeds and other inputs should be maintained and marketing and trade related costs and barriers should be minimized to amplify the potential of aromatic rice production in Bangladesh.