US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service has revised downwards its estimate for Bangladesh rice output in 2017-18 (May-April) to 34.2 mln tn from 34.6 mln tn. The decline in output estimate is largely due to reduced harvest of Boro rice, grown during Oct-Mar. The production estimate for Boro rice has been lowered to 17.8 mln tn from 18.9 mln tn due to neck blast disease and adverse weather conditions prior to the crop’s harvest. The losses will largely be offset to some extent by a rise in production of Aus and Aman rice. USDA’s arm has raised its forecast for Bangladesh’s rice imports in 2017-18 to 1.2 mln tn due to expectation of robust demand, expanding food safety programme, relaxed trade policies, and financial policy impact. A 15% reduction in import duty on the grain to 10% is also supporting imports from India, Myanmar, and Thailand.