Bangladesh plans to import 950,000 tonnes of wheat in the year to June 2016, up from 300,000 tonnes the previous year, seeking to secure food supplies. “We will seek wheat with 12.5 per cent protein content to ensure quality,” the procurement director of the Directorate General of Food was quated by a news agency as saying on Sunday. The announcement came after the Supreme Court questioned the quality of recent Brazilian wheat imports, prompting the state buyer to seek alternative supplies. In addition, the state buyer will procure 1.5 million tonnes of rice locally. Bangladesh depends heavily on imports to feed its poor and keep domestic prices stable. Bangladesh imported over 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Brazil at a cost of Tk4 billion. In 2008, record food prices led to cancellations of wheat import deals and sparked protests in a country where nearly a third of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
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