AMID growing concern of farmers nationwide, the government has finally decided to offer lower procurement price to growers of this year’s Aman crop by one taka less than last year’s sending shock wave to farming population. This is because as we see the farmers’ production cost has phenomenally increased closer to procurement price of Tk 31 per kg down from Tk 32. We fear it will potentially undermine farmers’ existence encouraging them to switch to other cash crop. This in turn may slowly bring threat to the nation’s food security while Indian exporters will continue to capture the local market. This is how the neglect to local farmers interest may appear as a bigger threat to local agriculture when the government is wasting millions of dollars to import rotten wheat. We believe that the government should refocus the procurement policy in the greater interest of farmers.News reports on Friday said that the government is also planning to increase duty on import of cheaper rice from India. But a small rise in import duty to 10 percent from 5 percent now as indicated will not be enough to protect local market from flooding of cheaper Indian rice. Indeed it is now dumping the local market and farmers income. The Food Ministry plans to procure two lakh tonnes of Aman rice this season from December to March; which is not enough to save farmers. Meanwhile the government granaries are full with earlier stocks. Even it is occasionally exporting rice to reduce stocks while allowing import of huge Indian rice at the same time; which they are also doing to clear their stock. It calls for removing the mismatch of our policy as it shows that the Food Ministry is protecting the Indian business lobbies forcing local farmers to sell their produce at a competitive lower price and incur losses. Rice millers who play the bigger role as the government procurement agent of food grains and supplying local market round the year calls for at least 30 percent import duty to discourage import of Indian rice by some trading houses. But such demands are going unheeded. Agricultural policy is always supportive to protecting farmers in all countries – be it poor and developed nation – through inputs subsidies and higher subsidized procurement price for grains to make sure that farmers are earning enough to make their living. It is part of politics and economics to transfer enough purchasing in the countryside as a bigger support to generating more demands in the economy. In our situation, the scenario is turning otherwise. There is no doubt a paradox between farmers demand for higher price and consumers demand for lower price. Here the government plays the role of market stabilizer but when it will be failing, the country’s agriculture will suffer the worst.
