The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shamim Jahangir

The government is likely to import 100,000 tonnes of Soft Red Winter (SRW) type of wheat from Canada and Australia with an additional cost of Tk 25 crore in spite of bumper production of wheat in the country.

According to sources the Government will import one-lakh tonnes of wheat at a cost of Tk 330 crore while the local market price of the same amount of wheat is at Tk 305 crore now.

The local market price of wheat is between Tk 30.15 to 30.55 per Kg while the Government will import it at Tk 31.50 per kilogram from Canada and Australia.

The Agrocorp International Private Limited, a Singapore based foodgrain export company, will supply the wheat through its Bangladeshi agent Smile Food Products Limited, a reliable sources said.

Of the total wheat, the exporter will supply 70,000 tonnes through Chittagong port and the rest through Mongla port, sources added.

The Food Ministry has prepared a proposal to import one-lakh tonnes of wheat and it would be placed at a meeting of the advisory committee on purchase on May 15 for approval, a high official of the Food Ministry told the New Nation on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, due to bureaucratic red tapism, the Government has decided not to procure wheat from local farmers despite bumper production, sources said.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) had fixed a target of producing 8 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from 3,74,000 hectares of land in the current fiscal, Dr Shahidul Islam said adding, "we expect to get 9.55 lakh metric tonnes of wheat this year."

He added that while the DAE target of production of wheat was 2.10 metric tonnes per hectare, the farmers produced 2.58 metric tones.

"There are around 1.25 lakh tonnes of wheat in government's stock," sources in the Food Ministry added.

"If the Government procures one lakh tonnes of wheat from the local market, the total cost would be less than Tk 25 crore from international market," he further said adding "In that case, the farmers could get fair price for their crops."