Govt to increase direct procurement from farmers

The government is planning to increase direct procurement of un-husked rice from the farmers, officials in the ministries of food and agriculture told New Age Sunday.
The policy shift is needed as the government has been facing severe public criticism for buying husked rice from the millers putting the farmers into an unprecedented crisis.
The viability of the plan was discussed by food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder and agriculture minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at the latter’s office, they said.
The meeting took place after Sadhan visited Razzaque after the Eid vacation.
The food minister would seek the prime minister’s approval to the proposal, they said.
Before the food minister met him, Razzaque told New Age that the government was worried over the low price of un-husked rice.
Until now this boro season, the government procured barely 40,000 tonnes of un-husked rice from the growers against the target of procuring 1.5 lakh tonnes directly from farmers and 10 lakh tonnes of husked rice from the millers.
The government set the rate of buying un-husked rice from the farmers at Tk 1,040 for 40 kg and at Tk 1,440 for buying husked rice from the millers. 
Agricultural economists blasted the government policy and asked it to procure at least 50 lakh tonnes of un-husked rice directly from the farmers to keep the price at a reasonable level for the growers.
The government cited inadequate storage facilities in place for the limited procurement from the farmers. 
An agriculture ministry official said after emerging from the meeting that the government might request the millers to partially store un-husked rice to be bought from the growers.
The government has the facilities to store 18 lakh tonnes of rice and it already stored 14 lakh tonnes in its warehouses. 
The government needs 22 lakh tonnes of rice to run its social safety net and rationing programmes. 
The syndicate of corrupt food officials, influential ruling party politicians and the wealthy millers does not allow the government to directly procure un-husked rice from the growers. 
Economists said that the harsh ground realities compelled the farmers to sell their un-husked boro rice at a maximum price of Tk 600 for 40 kg which is far below their production cost of Tk 1,000 per 40 kg.
Increased rice imports from India also brought down the price of rice grown in Bangladesh.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net