Staff Reporter :
The government has started procurement of Boro paddy and rice across the country set by the food ministry targeting to procure 18 lakh tonnes of paddy and rice in this Boro season, from farmers at a cost of Tk27 per kg of paddy and Tk40 per kg of boiled rice.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder inaugurated the procurement
through video conferencing from the Directorate General of Food on Thursday.
Boro paddy is being procured directly from farmers, while procurement of rice will be started from May 7.
Collection of Boro paddy and rice will continue till August 31, the Food Minister said.
According to the Food Minister, “No one can buy paddy without a licence. The food department has to be informed about who is buying how much paddy and which mill owner is selling it. This information should given to the food department regularly. It would be closely monitored whether anyone was stockpiling illegally.”
The mill owners have to sign an agreement with the Food Department between May 6-16, Sadhan Chandra Majumder said adding that the time for signing the agreement will not be extended in any way.
The government will procure 11 lakh tonnes of rice, 650,000 tonnes of paddy, and 50,000 tonnes of Atap rice (dried in the sun) directly from the farmers.
Currently, per kg of Boro rice price ranges between Tk 50-52 in the retail market and between Tk 46-48 in the wholesale market of the capital. However, according to the price chart of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the rice price ranges between Tk 45-48 in the retail market.
Although the government is offering Tk 10-12 less for rice compared with the retail market, some farmers are already selling their paddy to the local market at a price lower than that fixed by the government, while others are waiting for the price to increase, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials in haor districts.
