Govt to buy 1.75m tonnes of food grains

The government has started its grain procurement for the Boro season, targeting 1.75 million tonnes of rice, paddy and wheat.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder inaugurated the purchase virtually at the ministry on Sunday, with food officials joining from different parts of the country.

The Directorate General of Food will buy 1.25 million tonnes of parboiled rice at Tk 44 a kg from millers, 0.4 million tonnes of paddy at Tk 30 a kg from farmers and 0.1 million tonnes of wheat at Tk 35 a kg from the domestic sources.

Market insiders said Boro purchase would be easier for the government this year amid the hike in asking rate per kg by Tk 3.0 for paddy and Tk 4.0 for rice.

Wheat procurement would be tougher as the asking rate is still below the price in the mainstream market, they said.

Last year, paddy and wheat procurement was very poor amid higher prices of the staples in the mainstream market.

Meanwhile, the millers could supply half of the rice they were contracted for, said Prof Gazi M Jalil, a farm economist.

He said during the Aman procurement between December and March, 80 per cent of targeted rice could be purchased but paddy procurement totally failed.

This year the mill-gate price of both coarse rice and paddy are still much lower compared to the government asking rates, indicating a good outcome for the government, he said.

Mr Jalil said wheat prices are much higher now than the asking rate despite the fact that the government has raised it by Tk 7.0 a kg.

The production is good, he said, adding that the retail prices of rice might remain static for the next three months during the primary marketing period after harvest.

Anowar Hossain Babul, proprietor of Olima Traders in Nilphamari, said mill-gate price of rice is now Tk 41-42 a kg while newly harvested hybrid paddy is being sold at Tk 840-920 a maund (Tk 21-23 per kg) in the northern districts.

However, though the mill-gate price of coarse rice is now Tk 41-42, the variety was selling at Tk 52-55 a kg in the Dhaka city followed by medium rice at Tk 62-65 a kg and finer at Tk 75-98 a kg, according to the city groceries.

Meanwhile, the food minister issued instructions to field-level officials regarding the proper treatment of farmers when they come to sell their paddy.

He also emphasised the fact that farmers are the backbone of the country - as they feed the population, they deserve the utmost respect and dignity.

To ensure that farmers are not inconvenienced in any way, officials have been directed to use moisture machines to check the quality of paddy brought in by farmers before accepting it.

If the paddy is of good quality, it should be taken to the warehouse for storage, he directed.

The minister made it clear that any official found responsible for mistreating or exploiting farmers will be held accountable and brought to justice.

According to the food directorate, the public warehouses now have 1.5 million tonnes of rice and wheat, of which the staple rice comprises 1.1 million tonnes.

The country has so far brought in 1.05 million tonnes of rice from external sources, of which the government itself imported 0.64 million tonnes while the private sector could bring only 0.42 million tonnes.

The global rice price increased by 2.5 per cent in April than that in March and it was above 17 per cent higher than a year back, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under the UN.

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