Govt's paddy purchase continues to be low

The procurement of Aman paddy continues to be low although nearly three weeks have passed since the food directorate began grain purchases from growers in order to ensure fair prices.

Until December 11, the food office could only buy 1,834 tonnes of paddy out of its total purchase of 81,533 tonnes of rice and paddy from the harvest of Aman, the biggest rice crop after dry season rice crop Boro, according to food ministry data.

The government earlier announced plans to purchase 2 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers from this year's Aman harvest, but the procurement so far is only around one percent of the total target.

Food ministry officials and farmers linked the sluggishness to higher market prices of grains, problems in drying paddy due to unfavourable weather, and risk of refusal from local procurement authorities.

"The food directorate does not buy paddy above 14 percent moisture. As we do not have any device to measure moisture levels, there is a risk that we will be turned away if our grains do not meet the standard," said Khagendranath Roy, a farmer at Maljhar village in Dinajpur, a northwest district.

During the previous Aman season last year, the food ministry could only buy around 5,000 tonnes of paddy against its target of 3 lakh tonnes.

In the current year, the food ministry is offering growers Tk 30 for a kilogramme (kg) of Aman paddy, up 7 percent from the previous season.

Meanwhile, the government has been buying parboiled rice from millers by offering Tk 44 per kilogramme this season, nearly 5 percent more than last season, according to the food ministry.

But despite potential profitability at these rates, many farmers, such as Kanchi Karmaker of Biral upazila, consider the procurement process a hassle.

For Karmaker, a producer at Biral upazila of Dinajpur, the government's purchase price is attractive but there is a lot of hassle involved in selling paddy to state warehouses, he said.

That lack of enthusiasm is reflected in the paddy purchase data provided by the regional food office in Rangpur, the northwest division, one of the major rice production belts.

The procurement drive is facing challenges in four out of eight districts under the division, with food offices in the districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, and Panchagarh yet to buy a single kg of paddy.

The regional food office in Rangpur set a goal to procure 41,333 tonnes of paddy and 96,473 tonnes of milled rice from the Aman harvest this season. But so far it could buy only one percent, or 488 metric tonnes, of paddy and 38 percent, or 36,208 tonnes, of milled rice.

However, food ministry officials said they were getting an adequate response from rice millers. So far over 3,500 millers have signed contracts with the field office of the food directorate to supply milled rice to state go-downs. This includes 292 automatic rice millers.

The food offices in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, and Thakurgaon districts have also been able to attract farmers, with Dinajpur buying 298 tonnes of paddy, the highest quantity among the districts under the Rangpur division.

Still, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon have only achieved 3 percent of their respective targets, said Md Kamruzzaman, acting food controller in Panchagarh.

He attributed the slow pace of procurement to various factors, including high market prices of paddy, and difficulties faced by farmers in drying paddy during the winter season. Another factor is that some farmers still remain unaware of the ongoing procurement drive.

A similar scenario is being witnessed in other districts as well.

Take Bogura for example, where the food office has a target of paddy and milled rice procurement at 7,043 and 21,257 tonnes respectively.

So far, it has managed to buy 121 tonnes of paddy and 6,347 tonnes of milled rice.

In Gaibandha, farmers are yet to sell any paddy to the state storages, but the food directorate in the district has so far procured 2,535 tonnes of milled rice.

"Due to rain last week, the moisture of the paddy increased. This may be a reason farmers are not bringing their produce," said Gaibandha District Food Controller Al-Waziur Rahman.

"But since the prices of paddy are not high in the local market, I hope to be able to collect some paddy," he added.

Md Moniruzzaman, director procurement at the Directorate General of Food, said the response from farmers regarding sales of paddy has been low.

"But we have made progress in rice procurement," he said, adding that he expected the food office's procurement target for the Aman rice crop season would be met.

The government will buy the cereal from domestic Aman harvests until February 2024 in order to replenish public food stocks, which stood at around 14 lakh tonnes as of December 11.