The New Nation - Internet Edition

PROCUREMENT of Boro rice began by the middle of this month with the government setting the target of 12 lakh tonnes to build 'a buffer food stock' and the drive started from Sirajgonj district. The procurement price for rice has been set at Tk 28 per kilogram against last year's Tk 18 considering the increased production cost of farmers. Production costs this year of the Boro were estimated at Tk 19.23 and Tk 13.19 for a kilogram of rice and paddy respectively. The average cost of producing paddy is Tk 13.19 per kg and the government is giving the farmers 40 per cent profit as announced by the food secretary at a press conference.

The government has the capacity to store 12 lakh tonnes of rice and the storage capacity can be raised to 14 lakh tonnes as disclosed for the official procurement target fixed for this year. Besides rice, about 225,000 tonnes of wheat can be stored in government godowns. About 17 lakh tonnes of rice worth $600 million and 12 lakh tonnes of wheat valued $423 million were imported in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, according to Bangladesh Bank data. During the same period last year, 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice worth $54.75 million and 11.5 lakh tonnes of wheat worth $234 million were imported.

Economists earlier suggested that the government apart from ensuring enough procurement from local market, should explore available import sources to build a safe stock to ease supply and prices of rice in local market. Last year the government's procurement stood at 7.6 lakh tonnes of Boro against its target of 12 lakh tonnes. This year's pricing has been done keeping in view the market realities and farmers hopefully would not stay away from the government's procurement centres.