Dhaka, Nov. 27 -- The FE news published on Thursday last under the headline, 'Rice, maize eat up veggie cropland' comes as a surprise. This pre-winter season every year witnesses the start of arrival of local vegetables in the kitchen market. The kitchen markets in Dhaka and other cities this year do not see an abundant supply of vegetables and hence the usual price drop around this time has not followed. According to the , this change in vegetable availability pattern this year has been caused by farmers' more willingness to grow cereals like rice, wheat and maize than vegetables because the food grains are likely to fetch more profits with abnormal rise in their prices.

Traditionally, in a country where food primarily means cereals, an...