Bangladesh : Rice prices likely to go up
Bangladesh’s government has raised rice and paddy procurement prices by Tk 4 per kg to Tk 49 and Tk 36 respectively, aiming to ensure fair farmer compensation and curb middlemen influence. Food adviser Ali Imam Majumder noted prices may rise slightly, but the move supports farmers’ interest in cultivation. The government vows to prevent syndicate interference.
Rice prices will likely increase slightly as the government is purchasing rice and paddy from farmers at Tk 4 more per kilogram than in previous years, says food adviser Ali Imam Majumder.
“We fixed the prices after detailed discussions to ensure that farmers get fair prices… One of the reasons is to prevent the middlemen from buying rice directly from farmers at lower prices,” he said at the rice procurement inauguration programme in Sunamganj’s Shantiganj on Thursday (April 24).
The government is procuring each kg of paddy for Tk 36 and rice for Tk 49. “This [the new prices] will benefit the farmers,” he said.
“Rice prices may go up slightly. [But] we have to give the farmers fair prices. Otherwise, they’ll lose interest in paddy cultivation,” Majumder said.
In previous years, various syndicates actively purchased paddy and rice directly from farmers, but this time, things will be different, the adviser said.
“There was no syndicate during the last Aman rice procurement. There won’t be any this time,” he said. “I don’t know what happened during the last government, but we won’t allow any syndicate to operate now.”
On April 15, this year Commerce Adviser SK Bashir Uddin expected that rice prices will become more affordable within the next two weeks.
Bangladesh, the world’s third-largest rice producer, typically produces nearly 40 million tonnes of rice annually. However, natural disasters often disrupt production and lead to increased reliance on imports.
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Source : Somoy News
