Farmers upset as paddy prices fall in Lalmonirhat
Farmers in the district are upset due to fall in prices of paddy in the local markets to below the production cost, and some of them have lost interest in cultivating paddy in future.
Farmers said they sold paddy at Tk 700 to Tk 730 per maund (1 maund =40 kg) in the local markets in the last week of December, but the price has come down to Tk 620 to Tk 630 per maund from the first of January. They are forced to sell paddy below the production cost as they need money for growing winter crops and Boro paddy, they said.
An official of Lalmonirhat Department of Agriculture Extension said 3,35,990 tonnes of paddy were produced from 84,845 hectares of land in the district in the last Aman season.
Farmer Shushil Chandra Barmon, 58, of Doljor village in Aditmari upzaila, said he got 72 maunds of paddy from seven bighas of land in the Aman season, and he sold only 20 maunds at Tk 710 per maund. “I stored the rest of the paddy for selling it at higher price, but the paddy prices fell,” he said, adding that he sold 10 maunds of paddy at Durakuti Haat for Tk 620 per maund, which is below the production cost.
“I sold eight maunds of paddy at Tk 625 per maund at Durakuti Haat. I was upset at selling paddy at a price below the production cost,” said Jamsher Ali, 56, another farmer of Shalmara village of Aditmari upzaila. “As I need money for farming other crops I had to sell the paddy for less than the production cost,” he said.
Promodh Chandra Barmon, 62, of Karnapur village in Sadar upazila, said they spent Tk 650 for producing one maund of paddy as they spent additional Tk 500 for arranging irrigation water in the Aman season last year. “We got 10 maunds to 12 maunds from each bigha, spending Tk 6,500 to Tk 7,000,” he said, adding that he got 123 maunds of paddy from 12 bighas last year. “We thought we would get Tk 750 to Tk 800 per maund, but our thinking was only a dream,” he said.
A small paddy trader Sirajul Islam of Durakuti Haat said paddy prices fell suddenly on the first of this month as merchants showed no interest in buying and storing paddy in their warehouses. “We purchase paddy at low rate from the farmers and sell them at low rate to the merchants,” he said, adding that there is no scope of price hike of paddy in future.
Paddy merchant, also rice mill owner, Sekendar Ali of Puran Bazar in the town, said there is no space in the warehouses for storing more paddy, so the merchants are not showing interest in buying paddy.
Lalmonirhat Marketing Officer Abdur Rahim said rice prices are low in the local market due to fall of paddy prices. Paddy prices have fallen as rice mill owners are not buying paddy, he said, adding that the owners produce rice from their stored paddy and supply it to the local market.
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