Proceedings of the Fifth Asian Regional Maize Workshop - Search ...

There seemed to be a more vigorous maize market in 1993 compared to the previous years, when
maize was promoted but failed due to a nonexisting market. However, the poultry industry has
grown in recent years by as much as 1~ per year. In addition, more people are now aware that
maize can be eaten as a food and there is a general willingness to adopt it as part of the diet
the same way as wheat was introduced over the past 30 years.
There has been a positive interest by the poultry industry in using the maize produced in
rabi 1993. Initially, the industry was divided into those who were willing to buy maize at
prices above that of wheat and those who preferred to wait until the price became lower than
wheat. The interest by poultry farmers in yellow maize is because it colors the egg yolk a
deeper yellow, which would fetch a premium price in the market.
There is a traditional market for maize as "green roasted cobs". The centers of demand are
the urban cities, mainly Dhaka, Khulna, and Chittagong and it is increasing also in the smaller
towns. There are not special sweet corn varieties used for green cobs. The consumption of maize
as dry grain is confined largely to the "8ehari" community, a race of people of India preferring
maize in their diets. Since some of them have been liVing in Bangladesh as a result of partition
of British India, their source of maize was lost and they somehow forgot eating maize. However,
they might soon revert back to a maize-based diet, once maize becomes available. In fact, they
have started doing so.
The expanding poultry industry is regarded as the segment of the maize market that will
develop the demand and result in an increased supply of maize. Traditionally, the poultry
farmers use wheat as the main energy source in their feed. However, yellow maize
may displace wheat because it colors the egg yolks increasing their price. In addition, yellow
maize is favored among broiler farmers due to its higher energy than wheat and it also deepens
the color of the meat, which is demanded by the consumer.
Table 6.
Potential demand for maize.
Market segments
Potential demand
'000 t Percent
1. First priority
Poultry feed 40.0 16
Private poultry farms 24.0 10
Flour mills 60.0 24
Green cobs 22.0 9
SUB-TOTAL 146.0 59
2. second priority
Starch 25.3 10
Snack products 6.4 3
SUB-TOTAL 31. 7 13
3. Thi rd priority
Cattle fodder 41.5 17
Cattle feed 12.0 5
Relief and rehabilitation 14.2 6
SUB-TOTAL 67.7 28
4. TOTAL MAIZE DEMAND 245.4 100
Source: Maize demand quantification study. A.E. Drexler, AST/CIDA, 1990.
An external factor that may affect the maize market is the import of about 0.8 mt of wheat
per year (BBS, 1991) by the Ministry of Food for "Food for work" and other relief programs.
14