Development and Validation of Producer and Consumer Preference Models for Rice Varieties in Bangladesh

Abstract

Rice production depends on both producers' and consumers' preference. The consumption of rice depends on consumers' taste and habits. The objectives of this study were to develop and validate mathematical models for producers', consumers' and producers-cum-consumers' preference to rice varieties and to evaluate the factors affecting both producers' and producer-cum-consumers' decision on varieties for rice cultivation and can provide an indication of the factors affecting consumers' preferences to rice varieties in Dhaka, Gazipur, Dinajpur and Bhola districts of Bangladesh. Chi-square ( 2  ) tests were used to explore the significant difference of preferring rice varieties among the groups of people and compared the results with the proposed models for validation. Producers and producers-cum-consumers preferred BR11, BR22 and BRRI dhan32 in T. Aman; BR16, BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan29 in Boro and BR9, BR16 and BR20 in Aus seasons respectively. The specific grain quality characteristics such as whiteness, brokens, shape, amylose (%), aroma, cooking quality, hardness and chalkiness influenced the consumers and producers preference. Furthermore, pure consumers also preferred rice varieties on the basis of its tastiness and fineness.

Improving food security in Asia through consumer-focused rice breeding

“…We review global, regional and national studies on consumer preferences for rice conducted in selected countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) and South Asia (SA) throughout three decades (Unnevehr, 1986;several chapters in Unnevehr et al, 1992a;Juliano and Villareal, 1993;Rachmat et al, 2006;Calingacion et al, 2014;Hossain et al, 2015). Different sampling schemes and methods in data collection were used in these studies.…”

“…This rice type, which is consumed as water rice or as plain rice, makes them feel full which allows them to endure long working hours on the farm. In Bangladesh, preferences have shifted in the last twenty years from short-size-medium-shaped to finer, slender grains (Juliano and Villareal, 1993;Calingacion et al, 2014;Hossain et al, 2015).…”

Data-driven review on gender and rice varietal trait preferences in Bangladesh

“…For instance, producers and producer-cum-consumers preferred rice varieties for higher yield, whereas pure consumers preferred varieties on the basis of its tastiness and fineness. The specific grain quality characteristics such as whiteness, broken, shape, amylose (%), aroma, cooking quality, hardness, and chalkiness largely influenced the preferences of both consumers and producers (Hossain et al, 2015). Another study found that 96% of the consumers in Bangladesh bought parboiled rice from the market because of consumption habit (57%), not sticky (15.7%), easily digestible (15.2%), tasty (13.2%), durability (12.2%), and expansion ratio (3.8%) (Jaim and Hossain, 2009).…”

“…In Bangladesh, different rice varieties respond differently to different environmental conditions with varying yields and production risk (Hossain et al, 1990;Joshi and Bauer, 2006;Hossain and Barker, 2007;Rahman et al, 2020;Kabir et al, 2021) and to mitigate the risks associated, farmers' adaptation to the changing conditions is made through the adoption of improved varieties with new traits or combination of traits (Kabir et al, 2015;Siddique et al, 2018;Karmakar et al, 2021;Rahman et al, 2023). Thus, rice breeding programs in Bangladesh are designed to develop new rice varieties with traits like high yield, short duration, resistance to pests and diseases, and tolerance to other biotic and abiotic stresses to curtail farmers' adoption lag (Choudhury et al, 1992;Jaim and Hossain, 2009;BRRI, 2015;Hossain et al, 2015;Kabir et al, 2015;Tiongco and Hossain, 2015). However, genetic improvements for these specific traits alone may not be sufficient for new rice varieties to be adopted by different farmer groups as factors like gender may have considerable weight in determining if a variety will be adopted (Weltzien et al, 2020).…”

“…Past literature extensively examined the preferences of consumers (Choudhury, 1991;Jaim and Hossain, 2009;Custodio, 2015;Hossain et al, 2015;Cuevas et al, 2016;Custodio et al, 2016aCustodio et al, , 2019Bairagi et al, 2017Bairagi et al, , 2018Mottaleb et al, 2017), farmers (Joshi and Bauer, 2006;Hossain et al, 2015;Custodio et al, 2016b;Ynion et al, 2016;Sarkar et al, 2017;Weltzien et al, 2020;Haque et al, 2023), and other value chain actors (Custodio et al, 2016b(Custodio et al, , 2019Sarkar et al, 2017), along with an examination of participatory varietal choices (Paris…”