The New Nation - Internet Edition

Business Report

The miniket brand of rice price increased by taka 37 per maund in eight days from Thursday to Thursday (December 20-27), sounding a note of strong warning to all concerned. It increased by taka two between December 13 and 20, which perhaps passed beyond the notice of all. A rice trader at the retail level said, "We sold miniket at taka 31 to 32 during the holy Ramadan, and coarse rice between taka 22 and 23. These now sell at taka 37-38 and 26-27 respectively. We find abundance of supply, yet price increases; and we ourselves are perplexed."

According to BBS, about 1,16,39,389 families were involved in agricultural sector in 2004. The area of the ploughable land was 82.90 lakh hectares. One cropland covered 28.72 lakh hectares, two crops land 41.28 lakh hectares while the three crops land 10.23 lakh hectares. According to BBS, the country produced 2.83 crore metric tonnes of food grains against the demand of 2.61 lakh metric tones in the year 2004. In 2006-07 fiscal year, the country's rice production was 2.85 crore metric tonnes of which the coarse rice alone contributed two crore metric tonnes.

According to available source, the ministry of agriculture has set the new target of total food grains at 3.25 lakh metric tonnes during the fiscal 2007-08. It is often circulated that the food production will fall short of target due to the back-to-back floods in August and the 11/15 hurricane. It gathers from reports that the total loss in rice production would be between 21,39,661 and 23,63,081 metric tonnes, yet over the annual demand of 2.83 crore metric tonnes even if the wheat and the maize productions are excluded. Therefore, there could be no cause of becoming frightened and there is no acceptable cause of the rice price going high to higher.

But the situation may turn alarming if diesel does not reach the irrigation zone in North Bengal during boro season.. The country's 4.5 million hectares of land has been brought under irrigation project requiring 18 lakh tonnes of diesel. The concerned ministry/department must take all measures to reach diesel in the irrigated zone in North Bengal. In addition, care should also be taken to land the fertiliser subsidy to the genuine farmers. Otherwise, the boro cultivation may suffer in the long run, which may not be a good news. The country produced 1.60 crore metric tonnes of boro rice during the last fiscal and 1.23 metric tonnes of aus and aman rice.

However, the cost of living has been increasing day by day, which the poor, who are necessarily the most numerous, almost unable to bear. They do not think of anything but the way of survival only.