Patuakhali farmers content with paddy prices
Aman paddy growers in Barishal's Patuakhali district are very pleased with current prices as each maund (about 37 kilogrammes) is fetching about Tk 400-500 more than that last year.
"Following a few years of losses, we are finally getting good prices," said farmer Md Zafar Hawlader of Lohanlaya village under Patuakhali sadar upazila.
The district's farmers had struggled to meet production expenses in the last couple of years due to poor prices prevailing in local markets, discouraging them from increasing their cultivation areas.
"Now though, our financial stability has improved," he added.
However, Hawlader is concerned about a government decision to import at least 10 lakh tonnes of rice from abroad this year in a bid to boost the country's food grain reserve amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"The decision to import rice will likely reduce the market price and lead to losses," he said.
Echoing the same, Anwar Hossain Talukder, another farmer from the same village, said the government should consider the interest of local farmers when taking such decisions.
"Otherwise, the farmers will lose interest in cultivation in the face of gradual losses," Talukder added.
During a visit to the Dhankhali market in Kalapara upazila, this correspondent found local farmers measuring paddy on digital scales before filling those into sacks and piling those up by the road for sale.
Going round them were dozens of wholesale traders from different parts of the country seeking to make purchases.
In 2020, aman paddy sold at Tk 700 to 800 per maund even though the production cost was around Tk 800 per maund, according to farmer Abul Hossain of Dhankhali village.
"But now, the situation is very good as I can sell paddy at Tk 1,100-1,200 per maund," Hossain said.
"This year, I grew paddy on 6 acres of land and earned about Tk 2 lakh from it," he added.
Farmer Abdul Mannan of the same village said he grew aman on 5 acres of land and was able to sell the paddy for Tk 1 lakh.
Besides, Mannan also had enough stock left over to feed his six-member family for the whole year.
Motaleb Khan, a farmer from Chandradwip village in Baufal upazila, said the current prices were very good and they would benefit if such rates prevailed throughout the year.
Wholesaler Abul Hashem from Kushtia said good prices were prevailing at the local markets since the very beginning of the year.
"Aman paddy was sold at Tk 700-Tk 800 last year but this year, we have to buy paddy at Tk 1,100-Tk 1,200,'' he said.
Paddy bought from Patuakhali is supplied to rice mills in Kushtia and the finished product is then sold in different parts of the country, Hashem added.
Contacted, Hridayeshwar Dutta, deputy director of Patuakhali's Department of Agricultural Extension, said farmers were able to get what they had desired for this year. In the last couple of years, somewhat of a frustration had been prevailing among the farmers.
"But this time, that frustration is gone," he said, adding that aman paddy has been planted on 2.02 lakh acres of land in the district this year with a target to produce 4.37 lakh tonnes of rice.
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