The dominant food crop of Bangladesh is rice, accounting for about 76% of agricultural land use. Rice production increased every year in the 1980s except Fiscal Year 1981, but the annual increases have generally been modest, barely keeping pace with the population. Rice production exceeded 15.1 million tons for the first time in Fiscal Year 1986. In the mid-1980s, Bangladesh was the fourth largest rice producer in the world, but its productivity was low compared with other Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Highyield varieties of seed, application of fertilizer, and irrigation have increased yields, although these inputs also raise the cost of production and chiefly benefit the valuableer cultivators.Wheat is not a traditional crop in Bangladesh, and in the late 1980s little was consumed in rural areas. During the 1960s and early 1970s, it was the only commodity for which local consumption increased because external food aid was most often provided in the form of wheat. In the first half of the 1980s, domestic wheat production rose to more than 1 million tons per year but was still only 7 to 9 % of total food grain production. Record production of nearly 1.5 million tons was achieved in Fiscal Year 1985, but the following year saw a decrease to just over 1 million tons. About half the wheat is grown on irrigated land. The proportion of land devoted to wheat remained essentially unchanged between 1980 and 1986, at a little less than 6 % of total planted area.

Wheat also accounts for the great bulk of imported food grains, exceeding 1 million tons annually and going higher than 1.8 million tons in Fiscal Year 1984, Fiscal Year 1985, and Fiscal Year 1987. The great bulk of the imported wheat is financed under aid programs of the United States, the European Economic Community, and the World Food Programme. Food grains are cultivated primarily for subsistence. Only a small% age of total production makes its way into commercial channels. Other Bangladeshi food crops, are grown chiefly for the domestic market. They include potatoes and sweet potatoes, with a combined record production of 2 million tons in Fiscal Year 1984; oilseeds, with an annual average production of 250,000 tons; and fruits such as bananas, jackfruit, mangoes, and pineapples. Estimates of sugarcane production put annual production at more than 7 million tons per year, most of it processed into a coarse, unrefined sugar known as gur, and sold domestically.