The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Though India has suddenly raised the minimum price for non-basmati rice exports by $350 per tonne, the government yesterday ruled out any possibility of food shortage in the country.

"The government has enough stock of rice to meet the demands of the next three months," said Food and Disaster Management Secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman yesterday.

Addressing a press conference at the Food Ministry conference room, the Food Secretary asserted that there is no shortage in supply of rice from the government's godowns although the prices of coarse rice have increased in the market.

"At present the government has a stock of 3.22 lakh metric tones of rice and 1.58 lakh metric tonne of wheat. With this adequate stock, we'll be able to meet our food requirements for the next three months till the Boro harvest," he said.

He also said the government has already decided to sell five kilograms of rice per person under the OMS (open market sale) in place of the previous three kilograms.

Regarding the food price hike in international market, the Food Secretary said,"We won't be benefitted by thinking what other countries have done." However, he admitted that Bangladesh had not to face such a food shortage situation during the last three decades.

When his attention was drawn to the sudden price hike of non-basmati rice by $350 per tonne by the Indian government on Thursday, apparently in a bid to discourage exports, Mollah Wahiduzzaman said that the move would have no impact on stock of food in Bangladesh at all.

He said: "It may be a tactic of India to discourage rice exports. But, it will have no impact on our import of rice from India."

The Food Secretary further said that the Indian government had mainly re-fixed the export price of fine rice. "But, we are importing coarse rice. Moreover, we are expecting bumper boro harvest within two to three months. We have enough stock to meet the requirements of rice up to the Boro harvest," he said.

According to the officials at the Food Ministry, Boro production is expected to break all previous records this year.

They said Boro rice has been cultivated in all 64 districts for first time.

The agriculture officials also expect that the boro production is likely to hit an all-time high this time if the risk factors do not take their toll on it.

They said, boro paddy was cultivated in all the 64 districts of the country for the first time. "This is a good sign and we're expecting a bumper output this time around," a senior official of the Department of Agricultural Extension said yesterday.

"We've set the production target at 1.75 crore metric tons from 45 lakh hectares of land brought under boro cultivation across the country this year. There is every possibility that the output will exceed the target if things go well," he said referring to some risk factors," the official further said.

In a notification on Thursday the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, an arm of the Commerce Ministry of India, asked their rice exporters to export rice at newly fixed price.

Local importers expressed the apprehension that fresh problems might arise to import rice from India due to this latest step.

On the other hand, contract was signed with the India government for importing one, out of five lakh metric tonnes of rice, through the official channels and that one lakh tonne of rice has already started to coming to Bangladesh. But, the price of the rest four lakh metric tones is yet to be decided.

However, Indian High Comissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty yesterday said the Indian government would provide Bangladesh with four lakh tones of rice as part of the agreement for five lakh tones.

"One lakh tonne of rice has already reached Bangladesh and an Indian delegation recently visited Bangladesh to settle the issue," he said while speaking at a discussion as the chief guest at the National Museum auditorium in the city marking the 37th anniversary of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh-India Friendship Society organised the discussion.

Sources concerned said that India, the third largest rice exporter in the world, has taken such a decision to maintain its sufficient food stock. In fact, India has been trying to impose minimum ceiling on rice export to control overseas sales of rice. Earlier, the Indian Directorate General of Foreign Trade fixed the export prices of non-basmati rice at $650 per tonne.