British Food Journal

Modeling rice grain-type preferences in Bangladesh

Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Dil Bahadur Rahut, Ashok K. Mishra,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Dil Bahadur Rahut, Ashok K. Mishra, (2017) "Modeling rice grain-
type preferences in Bangladesh", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 Issue: 9, pp.2049-2061, https://
doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2016-0485
Permanent link to this document:
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2016-0485
Downloaded on: 15 September 2017, At: 23:36 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 40 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 19 times since 2017*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(2017),"Motives and barriers of organic food demand among Polish consumers: A profile of the
purchasers", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 Iss 9 pp. 2040-2048 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/
BFJ-09-2016-0439">https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2016-0439</a>
(2017),"Commercial extra virgin olive oils: Global Quality Index computation and pattern recognition
by chemometrics", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 Iss 9 pp. 2102-2116 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/
BFJ-02-2017-0093">https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2017-0093</a>

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-
srm:573577 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald
for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission
guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as
well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and
services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for
digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0007-070X.htm

Rice grain-type
Modeling rice grain-type preferences
preferences in Bangladesh
Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb and Dil Bahadur Rahut
Socioeconomics Program,
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT),
2049
Texcoco, Mexico, and
Received 21 October 2016
Ashok K. Mishra Revised 8 March 2017
Accepted 25 April 2017
The Morrison School of Agribusiness, WP Carey School of Business,
Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona, USA
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the rice consumption by rice grain types under the rising
income scenario in Bangladesh. Generally, with an increase in income, households tend to consume more food
items that are high-value, enriched foods and protein, such as meat and fish, by substituting for cereals.
However, consumers also substitute when it comes to grain quality. For example, cereals, such as rice, are
available in a range of qualities from the ordinary type (coarse-grain) to the premium type ( fine grain).
The authors postulate that as household incomes increase, households may consume more premium-type rice
(or fine-grain rice), while overall consuming less rice or fewer carbohydrates.
Design/methodology/approach – Using the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2000,
2005, and 2010, and applying multivariate probit and seemingly unrelated regression estimation procedures,
this study quantifies the impact of income, household demographics, and urbanization on rice consumption
by rice grain types (coarse-grain, medium-grain, and fine-grain types).
Findings – The results show that urban, wealthy households and, households headed by educated heads and
spouses, are more likely to consume fine-grain rice than their counterparts.
Originality/value – After yield, grain type is the second most important factor for farmers when
considering the adoption of a new variety. The price of rice and other cereals is highly associated with the
grain type. This study concludes that plant breeding programs of major cereals, such as rice and wheat,
should take into account the consumer grain-type preferences when developing new varieties.
Keywords Consumption, Rice, Fine-grain, Grain quality, Households, Ordinary-grain
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
An analysis of food consumption patterns in the least-developed countries shows that, in 1961,
the average yearly per capita consumption of all cereals was about 140 kg; the share of the
three major cereals was about 12 percent (16 kg) for wheat, 47 percent (66.09 kg) for milled rice,
and 15 percent (20 kg) for maize (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), 2016). In 2011, the yearly per capita consumption of all cereals in the least-developed
countries increased to 150 kg; the share of wheat increased to 72.6 percent (28.17 kg), and maize,
to 30.15 percent (26.63 kg). However, in 2011 the share of milled rice decreased by about
0.80 percent to 65.56 kg. Interestingly, in 2011, the yearly per capita consumption of vegetables
increased to 61 percent, meat to 44 percent, and fish to 116 percent compared to 1961.
The reduction in the average per capita rice consumption is subtle; however, this reduction and
the sharp increase in the consumption of meat, fish, and vegetables in the least-developed
countries support the stylized facts that with an increase in income, households consume more,
especially high-value enriched food items by substituting them for cereals (e.g. Ito et al., 1989;
Huang and David, 1993; Rao, 2000; Regmi et al., 2001; Gerbens-Leenes et al., 2010; Pingali, 2006;
British Food Journal
Kearney, 2010). However, the above trend fails to account for rice grain quality. Vol. 119 No. 9, 2017
pp. 2049-2061
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0007-070X
JEL Classification — D13, Q12, Q15, R14 DOI 10.1108/BFJ-10-2016-0485
 BFJ Based on the size and shape of the grain, rice can be classified into bold, medium, and slender
119,9 grain types. Rice grain can be classified as bold when the length-to-width ratio (LWR) is less
than 2 mm; medium, when the LWR is 2-3 mm, and slender, when the LWR is more than
3 mm (Graham, 2002; Calingacion et al., 2014; Cuevas et al., 2016). In addition to length
and width, food-value content, taste, texture, and cooking quality determine the grain quality
and affect the price of rice (Calingacion et al., 2014; Cuevas et al., 2016). Finally, Calingacion et al.
2050 (2014) identified at least 18 traits that determine rice grain quality. Therefore, it is plausible in the
case of rice that an increase in income and rapid urbanization may reduce the total rice
consumption; however, it may also lead to an increase in the consumption of fine grain rice.
Understanding rice consumption trends by rice grain type is important for two reasons.
First, research shows (e.g. Mottaleb et al., 2015; Laborte et al., 2015) that rice grain type is the
second most important factor, after yield, for farmers when considering the adoption of a
new rice variety. Consequently, adoption of new rice varieties, the price of rice, and the
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

overall well-being of smallholder farm are associated with rice grain type. Second,
the existing national rice-breeding programs in the major rice-producing economies and
international research institutes could benefit from consumer preference for grain types
and streamline the breeding program. Breeding programs based on consumer preferences
for grain types may lead to tangible benefits for resource-poor farmers.
The empirical literature is scant when it comes to households’ preferences for fine-grain
rice over coarse-grain rice, with an increase in income and urbanization. In a recent study,
Mottaleb and Mishra (2016), dividing household expenditures into quartiles and applying
the fixed-effect estimation approach, demonstrated that rich and urban households are
increasingly consuming more fine-grain rice. The study, however, did not explicitly examine
the factors that affect the choice of different rice grain types. Second, the study failed to
incorporate the simultaneity issue with regard to the consumption of the three different
grain types of rice: fine-grain, medium-grain, and coarse-grain. Note that a sampled
household can consume one, two or all three grain types of rice at any given time. Third,
there may be a selection bias in choosing rice grain types. For example, rich and urban
households are more likely to self-select themselves in consuming fine-grain rice, and such a
problem could result in biased estimates. We address these issues in the present study.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the rice consumption by rice grain types
under the rising income scenario. Specifically, this study identifies the determinants of
choice of rice by the grain type. Second, it identifies the factors that affect the per capita
consumption of rice by the grain type. We use information collected from more than 29,000
households in Bangladesh, and applied the multivariate probit (MP) and seemingly
unrelated regression (SUR) estimation procedures to examine the issue.
This study uses Bangladesh as a case study for two important reasons. First, economic
growth in Bangladesh has led to a significant increase in the per capita income. For example,
since 2000, the economy of Bangladesh has been growing annually between 4.0 and
7.1 percent (World Bank, 2016a, b). The per capita nominal gross domestic product has
increased 207 percent, from $363 in 2000 to $1,115 in 2014 (Government of Bangladesh (GOB),
2015). Second, Bangladesh is experiencing rapid urbanization. For example, in 2001, about
20 percent of the population lived in urban areas, and the share increased to 32 percent in 2012
(World Bank, 2016a, b). Reardon and Timmer (2014) stress that urban consumers in the more
urbanized countries of South Asia, East, and Southeast Asia are responsible for about
two-thirds to three-quarters of all food expenditures. From 2005 to 2010 in Bangladesh, the
average per capita daily rice consumption decreased from 440 to 416 grams (Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2014). Further, the rate of reduction in rice consumption was higher
for urban households than rural households. Hence, rapid economic progress and
urbanization in Bangladesh provide a unique opportunity to examine the dynamics of
consumption of rice by grain types (i.e. coarse-, medium-, and fine-grain types).
 We find that urban, wealthy households, and households headed by the educated heads Rice grain-type
and spouses are more likely to consume fine-grain and medium-grain rice by replacing preferences
coarse-grain rice. As a number of developing countries (i.e. India, Nepal, Vietnam, and others
in South Asia) are growing rapidly and increasing their consumptions of rice; based on the
findings, this study suggests that rice-breeding programs at the national and international
levels need to take into account the latest and emerging preference structure of consumers.
Otherwise, farmers may not accept the newly developed rice varieties, and the overall 2051
breeding programs might fail to bring any tangible benefits to resource-poor farmers.
Finally, the model diagnostics reveal the likelihood of consuming different grain types of
rice and the share of actual consumption of rice by grain type are significantly correlated,
indicating that univariate analysis of rice consumption decisions by the grain type are
biased, thereby, justifying the use of a multivariate approach.
The next section includes a brief literature review, and Section 3 discusses data. Section 4
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

presents descriptive findings and model specification, Section 5 presents results and
discussion. Finally Section 6 presents the conclusion and policy implications.

2. Literature review
Although rice is the staple food of half of the total population of the world, the rice grain-type
preference is highly heterogeneous among rice-consuming countries, and even in different
geographic regions of the same country (Calpe, 2003; Mottaleb and Mishra, 2016). Consequently,
the international rice market is regarded as a “thin” market (Cuevas et al., 2016). For example, in
Bangladesh, the eastern part of India, Pakistan, Thailand and the Middle East, long and slender
grain-type rice with an aroma, such as basmati rice is considered the premium quality rice.
On the other hand, in the Tamil Nadu state of India and in Sri Lanka, short and bold grain-type
samba rice is considered the premium quality rice. In a recent article, Custodio et al. (2016)
discuss the evolution of the rice grain-type preference in seven major rice economies and showed
that consumers in the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam prefer the aromatic long and slender
rice grain type that requires less cooking time. Interestingly, the long and slender rice grain type
is highly preferred by consumers in many European countries (Musa et al., 2011). However,
aromatic rice is considered spoiled or contaminated (Efferson, 1985). In two other studies,
Suwannaporn and Linnemann (2008) and Basorun (2008) found that consumers in Japan,
Taiwan, Korea, and North China prefer well-milled, freshly processed, locally produced Japonica
rice, which is the short-grain type rice. In the international market, as well in many countries,
such as the Philippines and Bangladesh, broken rice normally receives a lower market price,
because it is treated as low-quality rice (Cuevas et al., 2016; Mottaleb and Mishra, 2016).
However, in Senegal broken rice is highly preferred by urban consumers (Demont et al., 2012).
In a number of African countries, such as Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana, imported long-grain
rice is highly preferred, compared to the locally produced rice, mainly because of its high
standard of cleanliness, better swelling capacity, and taste (Tomlins et al., 2005; Akaeze, 2010;
Fiamohe et al., 2013). In Togo, rich and urban consumers prefer imported non-parboiled rice to
the local non-parboiled rice, mainly due to high cleanness, taste, swelling capacity, and long
shelf-life after cooking (Fiamohe et al., 2013). In Brazil, parboiled rice is less preferred by the
consumer, not because of its sensory property and taste, but mainly because of the consumers’
unawareness of the parboiled rice (Heinemann et al., 2006). In Ghana, Danso-Abbeam et al.
(2014) and Alhassan et al. (2015) found that local rice is less preferred by the consumer,
compared to imported rice, because of the bad grain quality and poor packaging of local rice.
The households in Malaysia much prefer locally produced white rice, a fraction of the
households consume aromatic and long-grain rice even only on special occasions
(Musa et al., 2011). In Indonesia, the largest rice-consuming country in the world in terms of
yearly total consumption, IR64 and Ciherang rice are the most preferred rice varieties
(Yunita and Riswani, 2013). IR64, released in 1985, is well-known for its long, slender
 BFJ grain-type variety with a white belly and an intermediate amylose content (Roferos et al.,
119,9 2006). Finally, a study by Yunita and Riswani (2013) shows that high-income households
consume relatively more high-quality rice and, on average, a high-income household
consumes 116.2 kg of rice per capita per year; medium and low-income households consume
108.96 and 106.68 kg, respectively.
Importantly, the cereal consumption data from FAO (2016) reveal that the yearly per
2052 capita rice consumption in Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia has decreased significantly
during the 1961-2011 period. For example, in 1961, the yearly per capita rice consumption in
Japan was about 87.96 kg, in South Korea, 98.85 kg, and in Malaysia, 120.61 kg. By 2011,
Japan’s per capita rice consumption had declined by about 50.74 percent (or 43.33 kg per
capita per year); in South Korea, it decreased by 13.44 percent (or 85.56 kg per capita per
year); and in Malaysia, it decreased by 33.73 percent (or 79.92 kg per capita per year).
Despite the importance of the issue, few studies have explicitly examined the issue of
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

substitution of rice grain types in which consumers increasingly consume more fine-grain
rice by substituting ordinary-grain rice, especially when the total rice consumption declines
because of the substitution between rice and other cereals. Mottaleb and Mishra (2016) tried
to examine the factors that affect rice consumption based on the grain type in Bangladesh.
The study did not explicitly examine the factors that affect the choice and quantity of
different rice grain types by household. Therefore, in this study we explicitly model the rice
grain-type preference by the sampled households, and identify factors affecting rice
consumption by the grain type, while considering the simultaneity and selection bias in the
consumption of different grain types of rice.

3. Materials and methods

3.1 Data
This study uses the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data from
Bangladesh collected in 2000, 2005, and 2010 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The BBS uses a two-stage stratified random sampling to ensure greater precision in its data
collection process. In the first stage, the BBS selects primary sampling units (PSUs)
consisting of specific geographical areas; whereas, in the second stage, it randomly selects
20 households from each PSU that represent rural and urban areas. For example, in the 2000
HIES survey, 7,440 households were randomly selected from seven divisions, 64 districts,
and 303 sub-districts. In the HIES 2005, 10,080 households were randomly selected from
seven divisions, 64 districts, and 355 sub-districts. Finally, in the HIES 2010, 12,240
households were randomly selected from seven divisions, 64 districts, and 384 sub-districts.
Since information on food prices was missing for 28 households, this study uses
information from 29,732 households, of which 9,203 were urban, and 20,529 were rural.
The HIES data on household-level consumption is quite detailed. For example, a household’s
consumption of food items, both in quantity and expenditure, was divided into 17 major
food categories[1]; households were queried on their consumption habits during a two-week
period. Finally, the HIES data also collected information on rice consumption, by the grain
type[2]. These include fine-grain, medium-grain, and coarse-grain types of rice. The three
grain types will be used as the dependent variables in the multivariate probit (MP) model.

4. Descriptive findings and model specification

In Bangladesh, short and bold coarse-grain rice is considered as a poor quality rice and
receives a lower market price for merchants and farmers. In contrast, long, slender grain
rice is considered a fine-grain type of rice and receives a higher market price. In this study,
we use the visual shape classification of grain type: coarse-grain, medium-grain, and
fine-grain rice.
 Table I presents basic information on the sampled households and their rice Rice grain-type
consumption patterns based on whether or not the sampled respondents consumed preferences
fine-, medium-, and coarse-grain rice during the sampled years 2000, 2005, and 2010. Only
37 households reported no rice consumption during the sampled years. Out of the 29,760
households, about 8 percent of them (2,295) consumed fine-grain rice during the reference
period, 39 percent (11,634) consumed medium-grain rice, and 68 percent (20,380) consumed
coarse-grain rice. On average, the per capita daily rice expenditure, in Bangladesh Taka 2053
(BDT)[3], was about BDT5, and the daily per capita consumption of rice was about
432 grams, of which about 8 grams were fine-grain rice, 137 grams was medium-grain rice,
and 287 grams was coarse-grain rice. Note that the rice consumption information in Table I
is presented on a per capita daily consumption basis. This means, for example, in total a
sampled respondent consumed 2.92 kg of fine-grain rice yearly, and on average a sampled
household with 4.81 family members, consumes 14.05 kg of fine-grain rice in a year.
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

Table I shows that on average, 88 percent of the sampled households were headed by a
male older than 45 years with about four years of schooling and 70 percent of them are
likely to reside in rural areas. A female headed about 12 percent of the sampled
households. On average, spouses had three years of education, and the average family size
was about five members.
Table I shows that, on average, sampled households spent BDT14 per capita daily for all
food items. Based on this information, we equally divided all sampled households into four
income quartiles consisting of 7,440 households (25 percent of the total sample) in each
group, where the households located in the first income quartile (Q1) were the poorest
25 percent of households and the households located in the fourth quartile (Q4) were the
wealthiest 25 percent. Table I shows that relatively highly educated household heads and
spouses were more likely to consume fine-grain rice. They spent more on all food items

Consumed Consumed
Consumed medium-grain coarse-grain
Variables All fine-grain rice rice rice

No. of observations 29,760 2,295 11,634 20,380

Real expenditure on rice (BDT) 4.73 (1.67) 4.91 (1.84) 5.07 (1.73) 4.54 (1.57)
Total rice consumed (grams/daily/capita) 432.41 (144.28) 382.47 (136.80) 415.47 (141.72) 444.80 (142.89)
Fine-grain rice 7.66 (49.01) 99.32 (148.49) 4.71 (28.32) 1.65 (15.08)
Medium-grain rice 137.38 (203.86) 136.35 (17,584) 351.41 (176.32) 23.51 (82.82)
Coarse-grain rice 287.38 (236.14) 146.80 (199.93) 59.35 (135.09) 419.64 (161.01)
Price of fine-grain rice (BDT/kg) 32.71 (6.57) 33.80 (8.78) 33.52 (6.50) 32.28 (6.44)
Price of medium-grain rice (BDT/kg) 21.73 (7.16) 23.24 (6.86) 22.56 (7.18) 21.21 (7.10)
Price of coarse-grain rice (BDT/kg) 16.95 (3.25) 17.62 (2.92) 17.41 (2.97) 16.70 (3.36)
Age, household head 45.41 (13.64) 46.33 (12.92) 45.55 (13.52) 45.30 (13.74)
Years of schooling, household head 3.73 (4.45) 6.36 (4.94) 4.79 (4.76) 3.04 (4.07)
Years of schooling, spouse 2.96 (3.91) 5.23 (4.56) 3.85 (4.25) 2.36 (3.50)
No. of family members 4.81 (2.05) 4.89 (2.13) 4.79 (2.09) 4.82 (2.02)
% of female-headed household 11.63 (67.95) 11.59 (67.98) 11.30 (68.34) 11.64 (67.93)
% of Urban household 30.93 (46.22) 50.41 (50.01) 41.65 (49.30) 24.20 (42.83)
Per capita daily food expenditure
(real BDT) 13.98 (6.94) 20.21 (9.45) 16.18 (7.55) 12.63 (5.91)
In the first income quartile (Q1) (%) 25.00 (43.30) 5.49 (22.78) 13.83 (34.52) 31.11 (46.30)
In the second income quartile (Q2) (%) 25.00 (43.30) 11.85 (32.33) 20.92 (40.68) 27.83 (44.82) Table I.
Rice grain
In the third income quartile (Q3) (%) 25.00 (43.30) 22.48 (41.76) 28.02 (44.91) 23.70 (42.53)
consumption, income,
In the fourth income quartile (Q4) (%) 25.00 (43.30) 60.17 (48.96) 37.23 (48.34) 17.36 (37.87) and demographic
Notes: All monetary values are computed in terms of real BDT using the general price index information,
1995-1996 ¼ 100. Standard deviations are in parentheses Bangladesh, 2000-2010
 BFJ compared to households consuming coarse-grain rice. Furthermore, more than 60 percent of
119,9 the households (4,464) of the total 7,440 households in the wealthiest quartile (Q4) consumed
fine-grain rice, while only 5 percent of the households (372) of the total 7,440 households in
the poorest income quartile (Q1), consumed fine-grain rice. In total, 50 percent of the
households residing in the urban areas consumed fine-grain rice over the sampled years,
while only 24 percent of them consumed coarse-grain rice. Based on income quartiles,
2054 Table I shows that, as income increased, the consumption of fine-grain rice increased and
the consumption of coarse-grain rice decreased with the increase in income. The pairwise
correlation between the daily total expenditure on food and the consumption of fine-,
medium-, and coarse-grain rice also support the findings which are 0.18, 0.27, and −0.17
respectively, and all are significant at the 1 percent level (p o0.00).
The findings in Table I show that the educational attainment of the head and spouse,
income, and urbanization (place of residence) positively affect consumption of fine-grain rice
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

in Bangladesh. Finally, Table I shows that the sampled households are overall consuming
less rice, but progressively consuming more fine-grain rice[4]. This may indicate that, with
the increase in income, households tend to consume less rice, but consume more finer-grain
rice, replacing coarse-grain rice.

4.1 Model specification and estimation

To capture the simultaneity in the consumption of rice by different grain types by
households, we use a multivariate probit model (MP) model estimation approach in order to
identify the factors that affect a household’s choice of different grain types of rice.
Specifically, the MP model includes three equations as follows:
yni3 ¼ b03 X i3 þei3 ; (1)

yi3 ¼ 1 if yni3 40; and 0 otherwise: (2)

εi3, are error terms distributed as multivariate normal, with 0 mean and variance-covariance
matrix V; the leading diagonal values of the matrix V have values of 1 and the off-diagonal
elements are correlated as ρjk ¼ ρkj.
To examine the grain-type choice and the consumption of rice by grain type at the
household level, we use the following multivariate choice equation:
yimt ¼ a0 þ b1 RFXPimt þb2 PCimt þb3 PMimt þ b4 PFimt þ ðH CI imt Þgi
X
6 X
2
þ jd ðDDÞd þ yt ðYearÞt þb5 ðUrban dummyÞim
i¼1 i¼1

X
3
þ ci ðIncomeÞimt þzimt (3)
i¼1

where yimt is a dependent variable that assumes a value of 1, when a household i consumes
fine-grain rice, 0 otherwise; assumes a value of 1 when a household consumes medium-grain
rice, 0 otherwise; and assumes a value of 1 when a household consume coarse-grain rice,
0 otherwise, for year t ( ¼ 2000, 2005, and 2010); m is the number of equations, m ¼ 3 as
households consume only three types of rice. Among the independent variables, RFXP is the
real expenditure on all food items, in two weeks, by sampled households; PC, PM, and PF are
the price of coarse-grain, medium-grain, and fine-grain rice, respectively. HCI is a vector of
variables that includes age and sex of the head of the household (sex dummy assumes a
value 1 if a household is headed by a female, 0 otherwise), years of schooling of the
 household head and spouse, size of the household (number of household members), six Rice grain-type
dummy variables, DD, representing divisional location of the household; Barisal division is preferences
the base division, which can capture the regional rice consumption pattern in Bangladesh;
year is year dummies (two) for three sampled years in which year 2000 is the base; urban
dummy assumes a value of 1 if a household is located in the urban area, 0 otherwise; and
Income is dummy variable. In our case, we have Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 as income quartiles; Q1
is the base; α0 is a scalar, βi, φi, θi, ψi are the parameters to be estimated, and ζimt is the 2055
random error term.
In addition, to examine the choice of grain type, this study examines the factors
that affect the per capita consumption of rice by grain types. While the independent
variables are the same, the dependent variable, in this case, is the daily per capita
consumption of a specific rice by the grain type in grams. To capture the unobserved
characteristics of the households that might affect consumption of three grain types, we
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

estimated a generalized inverse Mills ratio (GIVR) from the trivariate probit estimation
procedure in Equation (3) and plugged it in the model explaining consumption of rice
per capita daily in grams by grain types. We use Vella’s (1998) procedure to estimate the
GIVR. As Table I clearly shows that a sampled respondent consumes all type of grains
during the survey periods, to address the issue in the econometric estimation procedure,
this study employed the SUR estimation procedure to estimate the daily per capita rice
consumption by the grain type.
Table II shows the correlation coefficients of the error terms after estimating the choice
of different types of rice grain applying MP estimation procedures. The correlation
coefficients of the error terms for three equations (three rice grain types consumed by
households), and the level of significance in Table II indicate a strong and non-exclusive
relationship among the three equations for three grain types. The non-exclusiveness
among the choice of three rice grain types means that MP model would be preferred[5].
In addition, Table III presents the correlation matrix of the error term after estimating the
consumption of different types of rice grain applying SUR estimation procedures.
The level of significance of the correlation of the error terms and the corresponding χ2
value of the Breusch-Pagan test of independence of the error term and the level of
significance ( χ2(3) ¼ 190.57, p o 0.001) in Table III indicate the relevance of the application
of the SUR model compared to a univariate estimation procedure.

Rice grain type Correlation coefficients SE

Fine-grain and medium-grain rice (ρ21) −0.01 0.01 Table II.

Correlation
Fine-grain and coarse-grain rice (ρ31) −0.08*** 0.01 coefficients between
Coarse-grain and medium-grain rice (ρ2) −0.92*** 0.00 different rice grains
Notes: Likelihood ratio test of ρ21 ¼ ρ31 ¼ ρ32 ¼ 0: χ2(3) ¼ 14520.3 ProbW χ2 ¼ 0.00, ***Significant at the that households
1 percent level consumed

Fine-grain rice Medium-grain rice Coarse-grain rice

Fine-grain rice 1.00 Table III.

Medium-grain rice −0.03 1.00 Correlation matrix of
Coarse-grain rice −0.01 −0.07 1.00 residuals from
Note: Breusch-Pagan test of independence: χ2(3) ¼ 190.565, Pr ¼ 0.00 SUR model
 BFJ 5. Results and discussions
119,9 The first panel of Table IV presents the results of a household’s choice of rice by fine-grain,
medium-grain, and coarse-grain types. The second panel presents the estimates of per capita rice
consumption, once the choice of fine-grain, medium-grain, and coarse-grain type has been made.
Table IV shows that the per capita daily expenditure on food items positively and significantly
affects a household’s choice to consume fine- and medium-grain rice; however, it has a negative
2056 and significant effect on the choice to consume coarse-grain rice. For example, an increase in daily
per capita expenditure on total food by BDT1 leads to an increase in the probabilities of
consumption of fine- and medium-grain rice by 0.02 and 0.01 points, but it leads to a decrease in
the probability of consumption of coarse-grain rice by 0.02 points. The results reveal that
households that spend more on food items (richer households) per capita are more likely to
consume fine- and medium-grain rice and are consistent with theory. The three dummies for four
income quartiles (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4) show that, compared to households in Q1 (the poorest
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

households), households with higher income progressively increase their likelihood of consuming
fine- and medium-grain rice with an increase in income, and progressively reduce the probability
of the consumption of coarse-grain rice with this increase in income.
Panel 2 of Table IV shows the per capita consumption of rice by different grain type by
households in the higher income quartiles. For example, an increase in the daily per capita
expenditure on total food by BDT1 leads to an increase in the consumption of fine- and medium-
and coarse-grain rice by 1.08 grams, 4.35 grams, and 6.41 grams respectively. The three dummies
for four income quartiles, where the poorest 25 percent (Q1) is the base, show that the households
in Q2 consume more medium- and coarse-grain rice (about 13.6 grams of medium-grain rice and
85.0 grams of coarse-grain rice) daily per capita than the households in Q1. Similarly, on average,
households in Q3 income quartile group consume more medium- and coarse-grain rice per capita
(about 38.6 grams of medium-grain rice, and 113.3 grams of coarse-grain rice) than households in
Q1. In Table IV, the households located in Q2 and Q3 income groups consuming less fine-grain
rice than the poorest households in Q1. This might be the result of the presence of a strong
multicollinearity between total per capita daily food expenditure and the four income quartiles.
Nonetheless, the findings of Table IV are in line with the historical trend that households with
higher incomes can afford to consume more food, including rice, than households with lower
incomes, in general[6]. Table III shows that the probability of consuming fine- and medium-grain
rice by urban households, compared to rural households (who are the base), is significant and
positive; however, in the case of choosing coarse-grain rice, it is negative and significant. It reveals
that urban households are more likely to consume fine- and medium-grain rice, and are less likely
to consume coarse-grain rice (Panel 1, Table IV). Panel 2 of Table IV shows that urban
households, on average, consume 2.95 grams more fine-grain rice daily per capita and 21.7 grams
less coarse-grain rice daily per capita. Generally, urban households are more likely to be
economically affluent than rural households. As economically affluent households have the
capability to consume more food, urban households are in general consuming more rice,
irrespective of the grain type[7]. Year dummies in Panel 2 of Table IV confirm that, compared to
the year 2000, the sampled households consumed fine-, medium-, and coarse-grain rice in 2005
and 2010. The coefficients of rice prices show that fine- and medium-grain rice are the normal
commodities with negative price effects in both choice and consumption functions. However, the
likelihood of consuming more coarse-grain rice increases with the increase in the price of
the coarse-grain rice (Panel 1, Table IV). Probably, with the increase in the price of rice in general,
consumers consume more coarse-grain rice.
The years of schooling of the household head and spouse and the number of family
members in the household has a positive and significant effect on the choice of consuming
fine- and medium-grain rice, but a negative and significant effect on the choice of consuming
coarse-grain rice. It is plausible that educated household heads and spouses are likely to have
higher income and are able to afford and consume more fine- and medium-grain rice than their
 Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

Per capita daily consumption by rice grain type

Dependent variables Consumption by grain type (yes ¼ 1, no ¼ 0) (grams)
Estimation procedures Multivariate probit Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR)
Independent variables Fine-grain (yes ¼ 1) Medium-grain (yes ¼ 1) Coarse-grain (yes ¼ 1) Fine-grain Medium-grain Coarse-grain

Daily per capita total real food expenditure 0.02*** (0.00) 0.01*** (0.00) −0.02*** (0.00) 1.08*** (0.11) 4.35*** (0.44) 6.41*** (0.59)
Income quartile group 2 0.22*** (0.05) 0.26*** (0.02) −0.22*** (0.03) −2.71*** (0.51) 13.6*** (2.04) 85.0*** (2.59)
Income quartile group 3 0.40*** (0.05) 0.49*** (0.03) −0.45*** (0.03) −4.82*** (0.87) 38.6*** (3.24) 113.3*** (4.26)
Income quartile group 4 0.73*** (0.06) 0.68*** (0.04) −0.68*** (0.04) 0.59 (1.60) 70.7*** (6.25) 134.8*** (8.32)
Urban household, dummy (yes ¼ 1) 0.18*** (0.03) 0.33*** (0.02) −0.39*** (0.02) 2.95*** (0.56) −0.24 (1.52) −21.7*** (1.56)
Year 2005 dummy −0.10 (0.10) 0.56*** (0.06) −1.09*** (0.06) 46.5*** (2.53) 68.9*** (6.43) 83.0*** (7.96)
Year 2010 dummy 0.06 (0.25) 1.99*** (0.18) −3.36*** (0.17) 154.8*** (7.91) 238.0*** (20.49) 210.0*** (18.45)
Price of fine-grain rice (BDD/kg) −0.01 (0.01) 0.01*** (0.00) 0.03*** (0.00) −9.64*** (0.49) 0.98** (0.44) −0.87** (0.42)
Price of medium-grain rice (BDD/kg) −0.01 (0.01) −0.13*** (0.01) 0.13*** (0.01) −0.54** (0.22) −14.3*** (1.16) −7.18*** (0.76)
Price of coarse-grain rice (BDD/kg) 0.04** (0.02) 0.01 (0.01) 0.06*** (0.01) −0.26 (0.17) −1.50** (0.67) −13.9*** (1.20)
Age of household head −0.0001 (0.00) −0.0002 (0.00) −0.001 (0.00) 0.07*** (0.02) 0.21*** (0.05) 0.28*** (0.06)
Years of schooling of household head 0.02*** (0.00) 0.02*** (0.00) −0.03*** (0.00) 0.37*** (0.07) 0.05 (0.20) −0.98*** (0.22)
Years of schooling of spouse 0.02*** (0.00) 0.02*** (0.00) −0.03*** (0.00) 0.62*** (0.09) −0.09 (0.23) −1.25*** (0.25)
No. of family members 0.06*** (0.01) 0.04*** (0.00) −0.03*** (0.00) 0.47*** (0.14) 5.91*** (0.35) 7.38*** (0.42)
Male head of household (yes ¼ 1) −0.10*** (0.04) −0.04 (0.03) 0.08*** (0.03) −1.55** (0.71) 0.76 (2.19) 1.16 (2.56)
Chittagong division dummy (yes ¼ 1) −0.44*** (0.05) 0.38*** (0.04) −0.62*** (0.04) −1.70** (0.70) −24.1*** (2.36) −92.2*** (3.23)
Dhaka division dummy (yes ¼ 1) 0.15*** (0.04) 1.05*** (0.04) −1.33*** (0.04) 7.60*** (0.71) 45.6*** (2.35) 5.74* (3.13)
Khulna division dummy (yes ¼ 1) −0.16*** (0.05) 0.64*** (0.04) −0.84*** (0.05) 4.75*** (0.85) 12.6*** (2.40) −17.2*** (3.28)
Rajshahi division dummy (yes ¼ 1) −0.04 (0.05) 1.12*** (0.04) −1.31*** (0.05) 1.80*** (0.67) 37.2*** (2.89) −0.90 (3.39)
Rangpur division dummy (yes ¼ 1) −0.05 (0.06) 0.61*** (0.04) −0.71*** (0.05) 0.94 (0.72) 23.2*** (2.65) 18.6*** (3.78)
Sylhet division dummy (yes ¼ 1) −0.55*** (0.07) 1.07*** (0.05) −1.46*** (0.05) 3.20*** (1.16) 11.3*** (3.59) −72.0*** (3.95)
Generalized inverse Mills ratio 47.0*** (1.47) 148.4*** (0.86) 187.6*** (0.77)
Constant −2.73*** (0.32) −0.76*** (0.19) −0.68*** (0.19) 235.1*** (12.38) 71.1*** (20.83) 137.2*** (21.60)
Observations 29,760 29,760 29,760 29,760
At ρ ( fine and medium-grain rice) −0.01 (0.01)
At ρ ( fine and coarse-grain rice) −0.08*** (0.01)
At ρ (medium and coarse-grain rice) −1.57*** (0.02)
2 2
Wald χ (63)/χ 8341.59 18,509.25 69,685.49 71,236.40
ProbWχ2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Log pseudolikelihood −31744.70
R2 0.39 0.71 0.71
Notes: Numbers in parentheses are robust standard errors. *,**,***Significant at 10, 5 and 1 percent levels, respectively
preferences
Rice grain-type

2057

grain consumed daily/

Table IV.

proportion of the rice

grain and the
the choice of rice

Bangladesh
per capita,
Parameter estimates
of factors explaining
 BFJ counterparts. The six division dummies show that, compared to households located in
119,9 extremely poverty-stricken Barisal division, which is the base, households located
in Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet divisions are more likely to
consume medium-grain rice (Panel 1, Table IV ); and the households located in Dhaka division
tend to consume more fine-grain rice. In Bangladesh, the Barisal division is populated by
extremely poor people who live on less than USD1.90 per day (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics,
2058 2011). This finding suggests that economically affluent households in general, are more likely
to choose and consume more fine-grain and medium-grain rice due to their higher affordability.
However, the households located in Chittagong division are less likely to choose fine- and
coarse-grain rice than Barisal division (Panel 1, Table IV ) and consume less rice of all types
(Panel 2, Table IV). Per capita, daily consumption of rice in Chittagong division by all grain
types is lower than Barisal division (Panel 2, Table IV). There is a plausible reason for such
findings. Sylhet division is populated by more economically affluent households than the base
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

division, Barisal. There is a new trend in Bangladesh that urban and economically affluent
households consume more wheat than rice (BBS, 2014). Therefore, the total rice consumption in
Sylhet divisions is declining compared to the poverty-stricken Barisal division.
From the multivariate choice model estimation procedure, the GIVR was calculated and
incorporated into the functions, explaining the share of consumption of rice by the grain
type. The GIVR coefficient is positive and significant for the functions, explaining the per
capita daily fine-, medium-, and coarse-grain rice consumption in grams. This suggests that
unobserved characteristics of the households increase the consumption of fine-, medium-,
and coarse-grain rice in Bangladesh.

6. Conclusion and policy implications

It is increasingly acknowledged that with the increase in income, households switch their
consumption patterns to enriched, high-value food items, generally replacing cereals, such as rice,
with proteins, meats, and fish. Only a few empirical studies have focused on the fact that cereals
can be fine- or coarse-grain types, based on the grain quality. Therefore, it is plausible that with
an increase in income a household may decrease their total cereal consumption – rice in our case –
and at the same time may increase their consumption of fine-grain rice. Using Bangladesh, this
study examines the intra-rice substitution behavior of the households within their rice
consumption patterns. Applying the multivariate choice estimation and SUR estimation
procedures, this study finds that households headed by relatively educated heads and spouses,
and wealthy and/or urban households in Bangladesh are increasingly choosing and consuming
more fine- and medium-grain rice and are less likely to choose and consume coarse-grain rice.
As a number of developing countries across the globe are rapidly growing, the findings
of this study warn that the present cereal-breeding programs, both at the national and
international levels, should adjust to the changing consumption patterns of the consumers.
Because consumers, with the increase in income, prefer to consume better quality grain
cereals, breeding programs must not only focus on yield-enhancing traits but also should
include grain quality traits in newly developed rice, wheat, and other cereal varieties.
Otherwise, the overall cereal-breeding programs might fail to generate any significant
benefits to farmers as, in the end, the consumer may not prefer to consume those newly
developed cereals, which may fail to fetch higher prices and ultimately farmers might be
reluctant to adopt those varieties. Cereal-breeding programs in international institutes, such
as in the International Rice Research Institute, and the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center along with the national partners should first investigate the trend of
the grain-type choices in the emerging economies in Asia and Africa, and second, these
institutes should include the preferred grain quality traits in the breeding programs which
will ultimately benefit resource-poor smallholders. International donor agencies should
strongly support such efforts of both national and international institutes across the globe.
 Notes Rice grain-type
1. The major categories include cereals (rice, wheat, millets), pulses, fish, eggs, meat, vegetables, milk preferences
and dairy products, sweets, oil and fats, fruits, drinks, sugar and molasses, tobacco and related
items, spices and betel leaves including betel nuts.
2. This study defines grain type of rice by visual appearance of the rice grain and the standards set
by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
3. USD1 ¼ 78 BDT, approximately. 2059
4. Note that households that consumed fine-grain rice tend to be wealthy and spend more on food
items than others.
5. Non-exclusiveness among the alternatives is the necessary condition of application of the model
(Cappellari and Jenkins, 2003).
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

6. For example, the food balance sheet data supplied by the FAO (2016) showed that the yearly per capita
consumption of rice and wheat in the European Union in 2013 was 109.76 kg; in contrast, in the same
year, the yearly per capita consumption of rice and wheat by Southern Asian nations was 93.45 kg.
7. According to multidimensional poverty index, 85 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas
(Alkire et al., 2014). In Bangladesh in 2010, based on head count index, 31.5 percent of the total
population was under the poverty line, but the rate was 35.2 percent for the rural and 21.3 percent
for the urban areas (GOB, 2015).

References
Akaeze, H.O. (2010), “Consumer preference for imported rice in Nigeria-perceived quality differences or
habit persistence?”, master of science thesis, Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
Alhassan, H., Frimpong, T. and Mohammed, A.S. (2015), “Do Ghanaian rural consumers prefer
imported rice to local rice? Evidence from Akuapem North municipality”, Applied Research
Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 24-34.
Alkire, S., Chatterjee, M., Conconi, A., Seth, S. and Vaz, A. (2014), “Poverty in rural and urban areas: direct
comparisons using the Global MPI 2014”, Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative,
University of Oxford, Oxford, available at: www.ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Poverty-in-Rural-
and-Urban-Areas-Direct-Comparisons-using-the-Global-MPI-2014.pdf (accessed March 1, 2017).
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2011), Bangladesh Household Income & Expenditure Survey: Key
Findings and Results, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka, available at:
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/554771468207262934/pdf/709500WP00PUBL0
AndExpenditureSurvey.pdf (accessed August 12, 2016).
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2014), Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh 2013, Ministry of
Planning, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Basorun, J.O. (2008), “Analysis of the relationships of factors affecting rice consumption in a
targeted region in Ekiti – State, Nigeria”, Journal of Applied Quantitative Methods, Vol. 4 No. 2,
pp. 145-153.
Calingacion, M., Laborte, A., Nelson, A., Resurreccion, A., Concepcion, J.C., Daygon, V.D., Mumm, R.,
Reinke, R., Dipti, S., Bassinello, P.Z., Manful, J., Sophany, S., Lara, K.C., Bao, J., Xie, L., Loaiza, K., El-
hissewy, A., Gayin, J., Sharma, N., Rajeswari, S., Manonmani, S., Rani, N.S., Kota, S., Indrasari, S.D.,
Habibi, F., Hosseini, M., Tavasoli, F., Suzuki, K., Umemoto, T., Boualaphanh, C., Lee, H.H., Hung, Y.P.,
Ramli, A., Aung, P.P., Ahmad, R., Wattoo, J.I., Bandonill, E., Romero, M., Brites, C.M., Hafeel, R.,
Lur, H.-S., Cheaupun, K., Jongdee, S., Blanco, P., Bryant, R., Lang, N.T., Hall, R.D. and Fitzgerald, M.
(2014), “Diversity of global rice markets and the science required for consumer-targeted rice
breeding”, PLOS One, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 1-12, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085106.
Cappellari, L. and Jenkins, S.P. (2003), “Multivariate probit regression using simulated maximum
likelihood”, STATA Journal, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 278-294.
 BFJ Cuevas, R.P., Pede, V.O., McKinley, J., Velarde, O. and Demont, M. (2016), “Rice grain quality and
119,9 consumer preferences: a case study of two rural towns in the Philippines”, PLOS One, Vol. 11
No. 3, pp. 1-17, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150345.
Custodio, M.C., Demont, M., Laborte, A. and Ynion, J. (2016), “Improving food security in Asia through
consumer-focused rice breeding”, Global Food Security, Vol. 9 No. 2016, pp. 19-28.
Danso-Abbeam, G., Armed, M. and Baidoo, F. (2014), “Determinants of consumer preference for local
2060 rice in Tamale metropolis, Ghana”, International Journal of Education and Social Science, Vol. 1
No. 2, pp. 114-122.
Demont, M., Zossou, E., Rutsaert, P., Ndour, M. and Mele, P.V. (2012), “Consumer valuation of
improved rice parboiling technologies in Benin”, Food Quality and Preference, Vol. 23, pp. 63-70.
Efferson, J.N.E. (1985), “Rice quality in world markets”, in IRRI (Ed.), Rice Grain Quality and Marketing,
IRRI, Manila, pp. 1-13.
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2016), 2013 Food Balance Sheets for
42 Selected Countries (and Updated Regional Aggregates), Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO), Rome, available at: http://faostat3.fao.org/download/FB/FBS/E
(accessed August 12, 2016).
Fiamohe, R., Seck, P.A., Nakelse, T. and Diagne, A. (2013), “Assessing the effect of consumer
purchasing criteria for types of rice in Togo: a choice modeling approach”, invited paper
presented at the 4th International Conference of the African Association of Agricultural
Economists (ICAAAE), Hammamet, September 22-25.
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., Nonhebel, S. and Krol, M.S. (2010), “Food consumption patterns and economic
growth. Increasing affluence and the use of natural resources”, Appetite, Vol. 55 No. 3,
pp. 597-608.
Government of Bangladesh (GOB) (2015), Bangladesh Economic Review 2014, Economic Adviser’s
Wing, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Dhaka.
Graham, R. (2002), A Proposal for IRRI to Establish a Grain Quality and Nutrition Research Center,
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos.
Heinemann, R.J.B., Behrens, J.H. and Lanfer-Marquez, U.M. (2006), “A study on the acceptability and
consumer attitude towards parboiled rice”, International Journal of Food Science and
Technology, Vol. 41 No. 6, pp. 627-634.
Huang, J. and David, C. (1993), “Demand for cereal grain in Asia: the effect of urbanization”,
Agricultural Economics, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 107-124.
Ito, S., Wesley, E., Peterson, F. and Grant, W.R. (1989), “Rice in Asia: is it becoming an inferior good”,
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 71 No. 1, pp. 32-42.
Kearney, J. (2010), “Review of food consumption trends and drivers”, Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society B, Vol. 365 No. 1554, pp. 2793-2807.
Laborte, A.G., Paguirigan, N.C., Moya, P.F., Nelson, A., Sparks, A.H. and Gregorio, G.B. (2015),
“Farmers’ preference for rice traits: insights from farm surveys in Central Luzon, Philippines,
1966-2012”, PLOS One, Vol. 10 No. 8, pp. 1-18, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136562.
Mottaleb, K.A. and Mishra, A.K. (2016), “Rice consumption and grain-type preference by the
households: a Bangladesh case”, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 48 No. 3,
pp. 298-319.
Mottaleb, K.A., Mohanty, S. and Nelson, A. (2015), “Factors influencing hybrid rice adoption: a
Bangladesh case”, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 59 No. 2,
pp. 258-274.
Musa, M., Othman, N. and Abdul-Fatah, F. (2011), “Determinants of consumers purchasing behavior
for rice in Malaysia”, American Journal of Contemporary Research, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 159-167.
Pingali, P. (2006), “Westernization of Asian diets and the transformation of food systems: implications
for research and policy”, Food Policy, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 281-298.
 Rao, C.H.H. (2000), “Declining demand for food grains in rural India: causes and implications”, Rice grain-type
Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 201-206. preferences
Regmi, A., Deepak, M.S., Seale, J.L. and Bernstein, J. (2001), “Cross-country analysis of food consumption
patterns, in changing structure of global food consumption and trade”, in Regmi, A. (Ed.),
Agriculture and Trade Report WRS-01-1, Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic
Research Service US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, DC, pp. 14-22.
Roferos, L.T., Felix, A. Dr and Juliano, B.O. (2006), “The search for the grain quality of raw and cooked
IR64 milled rice”, The Philippines Agricultural Scientist, Vol. 89 No. 1, pp. 58-70.
2061
Suwannaporn, P. and Linnemann, A. (2008), “Consumer preferences and buying criteria in rice: a study
to identify market strategy for Thailand Jasmine rice export”, Journal of Sensory Studies, Vol. 14
No. 4 pp. 33-53.
Tomlins, K.I., Manful, J.T., Larwer, P. and Hammond, L. (2005), “Urban consumer preferences and
sensory evaluation of locally produced and imported rice in West Africa”, Food Quality and
Downloaded by University of Sussex Library At 23:36 15 September 2017 (PT)

Preference, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 79-89.

Vella, F. (1998), “Estimating models with sample selection bias: a survey”, The Journal of Human
Resources, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 127-169.
World Bank (2016a), World Development Indicators: GDP Per Capita (Current US$), World Bank,
Washington, DC, available at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?view=
chart (accessed April 6, 2016).
World Bank (2016b), World Development Indicators: Urban Population (% of total), World Bank,
Washington, DC, available at: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-
development-indicators (accessed August 12, 2016).
Yunita and Riswani (2013), “Behavior of household rice consumption in different income level”,
International Journal of Humanities and Management Sciences (IJHMS), Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 220-224.

Further reading
FAOSTAT (2016), Food Supply-Crops Primary Equivalent, Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (UNFAO), Rome, available at: http://faostat3.fao.org/download/FB/CC/E
(accessed March 27, 2016).
Ingco, M.D. (1991), “Is rice becoming an inferior good: food demand in the Philippines”, Working Paper No.
WPS 722, Policy, Research and External Affairs, World Bank, Washington, DC, available at: http://
econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=469072&piPK=6416542
1&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000009265_3961001161213 (accessed December 20, 2012).
Norimah, A.K., Safiah, M., Jamal, K., Haslinda, S., Zuhaida, H., Rohida, S., Fatimah, S., Norazlin, S., Poh, B.K.,
Kandiah, M., Zalilah, M.S., Manan, W.M.W, Fatimah, S. and Azmi, M.Y. (2008), “Food consumption
patterns: findings from the Malaysian adult nutrition survey (MANS)”, Malaysian Journal of
Nutrition, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 25-39.
Pingali, P. (2004), “Westernization of Asian diets and the transformation of food systems: implications
for research and policy”, ESA Working Paper No. 04-17, Agricultural and Development
Economics Division, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, available at:
www.ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/23795/1/wp040017.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).

Corresponding author
Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb can be contacted at: k.mottaleb@cgiar.org

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com