Anisul Islam Noor :
Though the harvest of wheat started across the country from March, the Food Ministry is yet to declare its annual procurement target.
As a result, wheat market price has gone down and the growers get frustrated.
The government purchases 15 to 16 per cent of the total wheat production every year, which helps farmers earn some profits from its cultivation, sector insider said.
The government procured 0.2 million tonnes of wheat out of 1.348 million tonnes of total production last year from domestic sources, Directorate General of Food (DGoF) sources said.
Wheat cultivation begins in November-December period every year and its harvest time is March to April, according to the Bangladesh Wheat Research Centre (BWRC).
The government declared the wheat procurement target and criteria in mid-March and started procurement from April 1 last year, according to the DGoF.
The DGoF office, however, said it would take a decision over wheat purchase by the middle of this month (April).
Meanwhile, newly-harvested wheat is now selling at Tk 680 to Tk 720 a maund (40 kg) in many areas of Thakurgaon, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Pabna, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Magura and Jhenaidah districts against the production cost of Tk 780 to Tk 800, farmers said.
Abu Bakar, a farmer at Rangpur Sadar Upazila told the reporter over phone that he got 29 maunds of wheat from his three bighas of land this year.
The price of wet wheat is now Tk 680 toTk 700 in Rangpur when its production cost is above Tk 780.
“Last year, traders in my area booked my crops in February. This year many of them are saying that the government might not procure the crop,” he said.
He said, most of the farmers are incurring losses. Those who could store the crop might get profits.
Shamsuddoha Babu, a Kurigram based trader, told that the Food Directorate purchase the best quality wheat having humidity below 14 per cent.
He said the cost of quality wheat after being dried would be minimum Tk 25 per kg at the farm level this year, he said.
However, Director General of the DGoF Md Badrul Hasan told that they would also procure wheat this year.
He said production of the crop is likely to decline in some districts. “We are collecting information before setting the targets of procurement for different districts which is taking time,” he said.
“We have called a meeting on April 16 next, expecting an announcement wheat import would be made on the day,” he said.
The Food Ministry data shows the government food storages have now only 0.174 million tonnes of wheat against 0.341 million tonnes in the corresponding period of last year.
However, wheat production declined to 1.348 million tonnes in FY’16 from 1.35 million tonnes in FY’15 amid spread of the blast disease in some South-Western districts, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The country’s wheat demand increased to 5.0 million tonnes, of which it hardly produces 1.35 million tonnes.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) primary projection shows that areas under wheat dropped nearly by 10 per cent this year as many farmers in the southern region did not go for cultivation fearing the fungal blast.
Though the harvest of wheat started across the country from March, the Food Ministry is yet to declare its annual procurement target.
As a result, wheat market price has gone down and the growers get frustrated.
The government purchases 15 to 16 per cent of the total wheat production every year, which helps farmers earn some profits from its cultivation, sector insider said.
The government procured 0.2 million tonnes of wheat out of 1.348 million tonnes of total production last year from domestic sources, Directorate General of Food (DGoF) sources said.
Wheat cultivation begins in November-December period every year and its harvest time is March to April, according to the Bangladesh Wheat Research Centre (BWRC).
The government declared the wheat procurement target and criteria in mid-March and started procurement from April 1 last year, according to the DGoF.
The DGoF office, however, said it would take a decision over wheat purchase by the middle of this month (April).
Meanwhile, newly-harvested wheat is now selling at Tk 680 to Tk 720 a maund (40 kg) in many areas of Thakurgaon, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Pabna, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Magura and Jhenaidah districts against the production cost of Tk 780 to Tk 800, farmers said.
Abu Bakar, a farmer at Rangpur Sadar Upazila told the reporter over phone that he got 29 maunds of wheat from his three bighas of land this year.
The price of wet wheat is now Tk 680 toTk 700 in Rangpur when its production cost is above Tk 780.
“Last year, traders in my area booked my crops in February. This year many of them are saying that the government might not procure the crop,” he said.
He said, most of the farmers are incurring losses. Those who could store the crop might get profits.
Shamsuddoha Babu, a Kurigram based trader, told that the Food Directorate purchase the best quality wheat having humidity below 14 per cent.
He said the cost of quality wheat after being dried would be minimum Tk 25 per kg at the farm level this year, he said.
However, Director General of the DGoF Md Badrul Hasan told that they would also procure wheat this year.
He said production of the crop is likely to decline in some districts. “We are collecting information before setting the targets of procurement for different districts which is taking time,” he said.
“We have called a meeting on April 16 next, expecting an announcement wheat import would be made on the day,” he said.
The Food Ministry data shows the government food storages have now only 0.174 million tonnes of wheat against 0.341 million tonnes in the corresponding period of last year.
However, wheat production declined to 1.348 million tonnes in FY’16 from 1.35 million tonnes in FY’15 amid spread of the blast disease in some South-Western districts, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The country’s wheat demand increased to 5.0 million tonnes, of which it hardly produces 1.35 million tonnes.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) primary projection shows that areas under wheat dropped nearly by 10 per cent this year as many farmers in the southern region did not go for cultivation fearing the fungal blast.
