Rice prices shoot up as traders,middlemen take the helm
In a development like a mockery to farmers, paddy prices in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joypurhat and Naogaon districts saw rapid rise when there was hardly any saleable paddy left with the growers.
During a visit to local paddy markets in Dinajpur, the correspondent found that a maund (40 kg) of paddy is selling for Tk 650 to 750, whereas farmers had to sell it for Tk 400 to 500 only a couple of weeks ago.
In Birganj upazila of the district, a 75-kg bag of BR-28 paddy now sells at Tk 1450 while the same of other varieties like hybrid paddy is sold for Tk 1250 to 1300.
"It is strange that the paddy prices see rise when the growers have sold off their produce. Farmers are held hostage by traders and middlemen during the harvesting season every year," said Azizul Islam, a farmer of Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
"Market prices fall when farmers want to sell paddy after harvest. It's a mechanism of middlemen and influential traders," said Rafiqul Islam, a farmer of Bhandara village in Biral upazila of Dinajpur.
Many farmers even failed to recover what they had invested for producing paddy, he said.
At least 4.38 lakh and 651 hectares of land was brought under Irri-Boro farming under Dinajpur, Joypurhat and Naogaon districts and total paddy production would be 26,33,766 tonnes this year, said officials concerned of the Department of Agriculture Extension.
Like in many other places, farmers of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Naogaon, Joypurhat and Thakurgaon staged demonstrations spreading paddy on highways in protest against the mysterious price fall of their produced paddy in May.
"Our demonstration demanding proper price of our paddy brought no results. Farmers had to sell their produced paddy early to repay their loan that they had taken to cover the cultivation cost," said Afaz Ali of Naogaon Sadar upazila.
The government should take steps to ensure fair prices of paddy for the farmers before the harvesting season, he said.
Many farmers blamed the food officials for delay in starting the government's procurement drive.
As per the government's announcement, the procurement drive was to start from May 5 but in Thakurgaon district the drive began on May 29.
This year the government fixed Tk 23 for a kg of paddy under the procurement drive.
According to the food control department of Dinajpur, they have already procured nearly 32,000 tonnes of paddy although the target was 26,000 tonnes this season.
"Despite reaching their target, we are continuing the paddy procurement drive as per government direction," said Md Abdul Kader, Food Control Officer of Dinajpur.
Meanwhile, there are allegations that farmers of Azimpur union of Biral upazila of Dinajpur got chance to supply their paddy to government warehouse despite having cards, said Nazibur Rahman, a farmer of Azimpur village of the union.
Contacted, Abdul Kader said he will see the matter.
Meanwhile, Rangpur, Joypurhat and Naogaon districts are still far behind in achieving their paddy procurement drive target.
Paddy procurement target was 19,816 tonnes in Rangpur, 26,545 tonnes in Naogaon, and 12,433 tonnes in Joypurhat, but the amounts of procurement so far is 10,352 tonnes, 18,333 tonnes, and 9,131 tonnes of paddy respectively, said sources of district food control offices.
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