Farmers celebrate bumper yields, but cry for fair prices

Bangladesh saw increased food production and relatively stable prices of rice and vegetables for almost the entire 2014.

Yields of boro rice, the principal crop, hit a record high at 1.90 crore tonnes, while production of potato, maize and wheat also increased, thanks to favourable weather conditions and the government's support, according to agriculturists.

Food and Agriculture Organisation said Bangladesh is likely to harvest 5.6 crore tonnes of paddy and wheat in the outgoing year, up 1.6 percent year-on-year.

Agriculture officials said the harvest of aman is going on and the output from the second biggest crop is likely to be good even after recurrent floods in some growing regions.

"Floods inundated lands where water usually cannot reach. We hope it will facilitate higher yields. Overall production will rise because of increased acreage of hybrid varieties," said an official of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

The DAE has set a target of 1.34 crore tonnes of aman rice this season, up from 1.30 crore tonnes last year.

Also, good vegetable production enabled people, particularly in urban areas, to get different varieties of vegetables throughout the year.

The supply of import-based cooking oil, sugar and wheat was also good and their prices fell gradually amid increased production and price cuts globally.

As a result, overall inflation came down. Food inflation, which was 9.09 percent in May, declined to 6.44 percent in November, much lower than 8.55 percent in the same month a year ago, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.  

"Overall, it was quite a good year for agriculture, mainly due to favourable weather," said M Asaduzzaman, a professorial fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

"We have seen attempts of diversification in farm production," he said.

THE CRY FOR FAIR PRICES

Despite increased production, many of the 1.48 crore farmers in Bangladesh were deprived of fair prices of their produce such as potato, maize, vegetables and jute. Factors such as last year's political turmoil, weak marketing infrastructure and falling jute exports were blamed.

Also, high transport costs and extortion on highways continue to remain a major problem in ensuring fair prices, agriculturists and farmers said.

Farmers who grew rice received higher prices after the boro harvest. But spiralling rice imports, particularly from India, have dampened prices of paddy and rice in recent days.

Rice imports between July and December 15 exceeded last year's total of 3.74 lakh tonnes. Total rice imports reached 4.44 lakh tonnes since July this year, according to the food ministry.

Prices of potato, which fell below farmers' production costs for ample supply early this year, rebounded later amid increased exports and a storing facility, allowing growers to minimise past losses.

"Although potato prices declined early this year, a rise in prices later has benefitted me. Yields and prices of boro rice were also good," said Md Wazed Ali Fakir, a small farmer in Joypurhat district in the north.

Mohammed Motaleb, a farmer in Rangpur, said their production costs did not go up much in the outgoing year as the government did not increase prices of diesel and fertilisers.

"It allowed us to make some profit from boro rice. And at the current prices of aman, I will not incur losses. Overall, it was a good year for me," he said.

However, Suruj Mia, a farmer from Faridpur, a major jute producing region, has complaints for losses he saw from jute cultivation this year. "I could not even recover my production costs," he said.

Babu Sarker, a small farmer at Shibganj, a vegetables hub in Bogra district, said he incurred losses by cultivating cauliflower.

"Prices of vegetables have fallen again this year although prices are high in Dhaka. Last year, I suffered losses for recurrent shutdowns and blockades," he said.

He said wholesalers were offering them Tk 5-Tk 7 for a cauliflower at Mahastan, a wholesale market for vegetables in Bogra.

In Dhaka, the same was selling at Tk 12-Tk 18 at wholesale and Tk 15-Tk 25 at retail levels, according to Department of Agricultural Marketing.  The picture is the same for other vegetables as well.

"We feel uncomfortable when farmers ask us why we request them to grow more crops but cannot ensure fair prices for their produce," said an official of the DAE, asking not to be named.

Every year, at the time of harvest, growers have to sell vegetables at throwaway prices in absence of specialised cold storages and proper transport facilities.

Md Rafiqul Islam Mondal, executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, said production of most of the crops, including vegetables, was good in the outgoing year.

"But we are yet to ensure fair prices for farmers. It is a failure," he said.

Asaduzzaman of BIDS said the marketing system and infrastructure for farm produce remain very weak. "The government should immediately pay attention to improving the marketing system. Otherwise, growth of agriculture will be uncertain," he said.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said: "We are trying to develop infrastructure as much as possible. We are intervening sincerely, though on a limited scale."

She said the government purchases rice and wheat so that their prices do not fall much. The private sector should come forward to establish cold warehouse facilities and introduce cold chain transports, she said.

On extortion on highways, she said the government is taking punitive steps to stop it. "We have initiatives to ensure an ideal situation. But it will take time to reach there," the minister said.

On the global front, commodity prices are expected to remain weak for the remainder of 2014 and perhaps through much of 2015, said Commodity Markets Outlook by World Bank Group.

At the domestic level, bringing new and effective agricultural technologies, and above all, ensuring fair prices and giving incentives to growers will be the key to maintaining the buoyancy in farm production, analysts said. 

"Incentives for farmers may prove futile due to increased rice imports. As the oil prices have fallen in the global market, the government should reduce prices of diesel for irrigation. It will act as an incentive for growers," Asaduzzaman said.