The government has set the prices at which it will buy paddy and rice this Aman season. Compared with last year, it will pay Tk 1 a kilogram more for paddy and Tk 1 less for boiled and sunned (atap) rice.
Food Minister Afroza Khanam announced the decision after a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee at the Secretariat on Sunday (8 November).
She said Aman paddy procurement would start on 14 November and run until 28 February. Rice procurement will begin on 1 December and run until the same date.
This year’s targets are 300,000 tonnes of paddy at Tk 35 a kilogram, 500,000 tonnes of boiled rice at Tk 49 a kilogram and 50,000 tonnes of sunned rice at Tk 48 a kilogram.
On the targets, the food minister said: “We have set the Aman paddy target at 300,000 tonnes, but it may go up. If farmers want to sell more than the set amount, that option has been kept open. The prime minister has instructed us to make sure farmers suffer no loss.”
The minister said the meeting discussed the country’s overall food situation, stocks, public distribution and imports. In line with its election manifesto, she said, the government is working to build a modern, farmer-centred farming system. Under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the main aims are to secure food and nutrition security and to give farmers a fair price for their crops.
State Minister for Food Md Abdul Bari, Food Secretary Abu Taher Md Masud Rana and other officials attended the meeting.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report