THE country’s premier rice research establishment – Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) – says despite a 10% crop loss owing to monsoon deluge this year, there will be a net surplus of three million tons of rice even after meeting consumption needs of the staple till mid-2021. Interestingly, the Food Directorate has started an import frenzy at a time when another government body-run nationwide survey found Bangladesh well poised with its home-grown rice availability.
BRRI also cautioned against import during peak harvesting season, which in turn will have dampening effects on domestic rice price. So then why is the government going to import rice? According to BRRI the government needs to expedite its rice procurement drive and buy paddy directly from the farmers.
It’s obvious that the government must increase volume of paddy it buys from the farmers. The government’s paddy and rice procurement drives have to be much more dynamic and farmers-friendly. On Tuesday, BRRI shared outcome of its nationwide survey findings showing that despite a flood-induced 10% loss in Aman season, the country’s aggregate rice output (Aus, Aman, Boro – all three rice seasons in total) is projected to be 37.42 million tons. According to BRRI, this amount of rice is well enough to cover domestic requirements of the staple till June next year and still there will be a surplus rice availability of three million tons.
So importing rice right now is nothing, but a colossal wastage of public funds and a loss for our foreign reserves. And for what — there is no reason to buy rice from abroad when the same can be procured from farmers — so why isn’t the government procuring from farmers — that is the big question. At a time when we have enough domestic output to cover all our needs, importing rice is simply a waste of our public funds in a time when we need all our resources to spend on Covid-19. This nonsense has to stop.
BRRI also cautioned against import during peak harvesting season, which in turn will have dampening effects on domestic rice price. So then why is the government going to import rice? According to BRRI the government needs to expedite its rice procurement drive and buy paddy directly from the farmers.
It’s obvious that the government must increase volume of paddy it buys from the farmers. The government’s paddy and rice procurement drives have to be much more dynamic and farmers-friendly. On Tuesday, BRRI shared outcome of its nationwide survey findings showing that despite a flood-induced 10% loss in Aman season, the country’s aggregate rice output (Aus, Aman, Boro – all three rice seasons in total) is projected to be 37.42 million tons. According to BRRI, this amount of rice is well enough to cover domestic requirements of the staple till June next year and still there will be a surplus rice availability of three million tons.
So importing rice right now is nothing, but a colossal wastage of public funds and a loss for our foreign reserves. And for what — there is no reason to buy rice from abroad when the same can be procured from farmers — so why isn’t the government procuring from farmers — that is the big question. At a time when we have enough domestic output to cover all our needs, importing rice is simply a waste of our public funds in a time when we need all our resources to spend on Covid-19. This nonsense has to stop.
