THE government is going to purchase one lakh metric tonnes of non-aromatic rice from India under a government-to-government deal. A proposal from the Food Ministry to import at a rate of USD 455 per tonne of rice from India has been approved. After losing rice production in the flash floods in many northern and eastern districts, the farmers planted Boro in winter for getting a better price. If the government imports rice at a lower rate from the bordering country to clear their warehouses, it will be tantamount to destroying our farmers profits. In 2015, the government imported rice in bulk which reduced the farmers profits and kept them from investing in the coming years, resulting in food insecurity. Likewise, importing rice at the moment when local farmers are toiling to ensure food security would be deleterious to our national interests.
The private importers are bringing rice from India regularly, but the latest initiative on a government-to-government basis between the two countries is the first in the last one decade. The import of rice from India also follows a series of rice imports from Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia to make up for the losses of rice due to prolonged floods and also to stabilize the price of the country’s main staple. The price of rice marked a substantial rise in the local market because of supply glitches with the plummeting stocks pushing up the general inflation. The Food Ministry has decided to import 20 lakh tonnes of rice on government-to-government deals and by the private importers in the current fiscal year that would end in June 2018.
So like all other countries it also requires government support, particularly to keep the farmer’s production cost down and to ensure the stable price with a profit for them to stay in the business. Here a country can’t depend on imports, particularly when it is producing more than it consumes and exporting rice, thereby allowing the domestic market to falter with cheaper imports that only creates crisis for the farmers.
The private importers are bringing rice from India regularly, but the latest initiative on a government-to-government basis between the two countries is the first in the last one decade. The import of rice from India also follows a series of rice imports from Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia to make up for the losses of rice due to prolonged floods and also to stabilize the price of the country’s main staple. The price of rice marked a substantial rise in the local market because of supply glitches with the plummeting stocks pushing up the general inflation. The Food Ministry has decided to import 20 lakh tonnes of rice on government-to-government deals and by the private importers in the current fiscal year that would end in June 2018.
So like all other countries it also requires government support, particularly to keep the farmer’s production cost down and to ensure the stable price with a profit for them to stay in the business. Here a country can’t depend on imports, particularly when it is producing more than it consumes and exporting rice, thereby allowing the domestic market to falter with cheaper imports that only creates crisis for the farmers.
