Farmers’ human chain in Sylhet demands increasing prices of Aman seeds

Farmers in Sylhet today demanded increasing the price of Aman seed which are being collected from contracted farmers of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), during a human chain formed in front of the BADC office.

Around hundred farmers took part in the program, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

Also, farmers in Moulvibazar Sadar, Sreemangal, Kamalganj and Rajnagar upazilas echoed the same and said if BADC fails to increase the price, they should return the seeds that they already collected.

The collection price for Aman seed this year is Tk 38 and Tk 39 per kg for regular varieties except BRRI-38. The price was Tk 29 last year which was increased to Tk 31 after farmers demanded, according to BADC.

"Of the four upazilas, 152 contracted Aman farmers produced 800 tonnes of paddy seed but this year the production cost is an estimated Tk 42-43 per kgs, which is more than the collection price," said Mubasshir Ali, a farmer from Gobindapur village of Kamalganj.

"The production cost of Aman seed is at least 30 percent more than the regular production cost. All we want is a fair price which is Tk 50 per kg," he said.

"The collection price is set by high-level authority and we can't change it anyway. But as the farmers are demanding, we'll be sending their message to the top authority to decide in this regard," said Supriyo Paul, joint director of Sylhet BADC (seed marketing).