Govt’s Boro procurement policy needs a change
A research conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that Boro farmers can get a fair price for their produce, if the government buys paddy directly from the growers instead of rice from millers. The study commissioned by the agriculture ministry also suggests that the step will increase the market price of Boro paddy during the harvest season. By analysing last year's Boro procurement data, the researchers found that the market price of Boro paddy could have increased by 45 percent, had the government purchased only paddy from farmers for its rice stock.
While 81.1 percent of total government's rice procurement was from the millers last year, only 18.9 percent of rice in the form of paddy was procured from the farmers. And only 1.34 percent of all Boro farmers could sell their produce to the government.
Every year, despite having a bumper Boro harvest, the majority of our farmers have to count losses while the rice millers make huge profits. This is a well-known fact and the study has just found out the details of the ground realities. The IFPRI has also made some commendable suggestions as to how to protect farmers' interests through the government's procurement programmes. In order to ensure fair prices for farmers, the government should fix the prices of paddies with different moisture content, buy paddy from farmers at the local supply depots and get those husked at rice mills, set a maximum selling limit for farmers so that small farmers and sharecroppers can participate in the procurement process, etc. Moreover, only the government-designated rice millers should transport the paddy from the depots to the mills.
These steps, if taken, will not only increase the market price of paddy during the harvest season which will benefit farmers, but will also lower the retail price of rice in the market which will benefit the low-income people, particularly the urban poor. We request the government to consider the suggestions made by the study and help protect farmers' interests.
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