The government is taking steps to increase food grain stock and help farmers get fair prices for their produce amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Yet, many fear, this may not benefit all farmers due to the existing procurement process.

This year the government has decided to purchase eight lakh tonnes of Boro paddy at Tk 26 a kg directly from farmers from April 26 onwards and 11.5 lakh tonnes of milled rice --- 10 lakh tonnes parboiled and 1.5 lakh tons sunburnt --- from millers from May 7.

Last year, the procurement was four lakh tonnes of paddy and 14.09 lakh metric tonnes of rice.

The decision to buy more paddy was taken so that farmers do not face loss in their production in this crisis, said Food Minister Sadhan Kumar Majumder.

"We have already issued a circular [last week] for procurement of six lakh tonnes of paddy and 11.5 lakh tonnes of rice in this Boro season," the minister said.

"But the honourable prime minister has directed us to increase it [the purchase quantity] -- to another two lakhs tonnes of Boro paddy," he told The Daily Star on Friday.

GOOD CROP YIELD

This year, the government targeted Boro production in 48.66 lakh hectares of land but actual cultivation occurred in 47.54 lakh hectares. Average yield of Boro rice is four tonnes per hectare, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

The harvest of Boro, the principal crop of the country, has already begun in haor areas of Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions. In other regions, it will start from early May.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Sylhet division, the biggest hub of Boro rice cultivation, is expecting 25,83,115 tonnes of yield from the division alone this year.

Farmers harvesting paddy in haor regions are happy with the current yield.

Bidhan Krishna Sarker, a farmer from Khaliajury upazila in Netrokona cultivated Boro in 20 acres of land.

"I am getting at least 80 to 85 maund (40 kg) of rice per acre. I have not seen such a good production in the last few years," said Bidhan on Friday morning, while cutting paddy in his field.

Mozammel Haque of Mendipur village in the upazila told The Daily Star that he sold one maund of paddy at Tk 780 last week (Tk 19.5 per kg).

"Most farmers in our area have harvested and sold paddy at the rate," he said.

Last year, the price of Boro paddy was below Tk 500 per maund (Tk 12.5 per kg).

WILL FARMERS BENEFIT? 

The good yield and the government's decision to increase paddy procurement are not reassuring for farmers.

They said the government's procurement process of selecting rice growers through a lottery system often benefits non-farmers such as traders and local political men, instead of small and marginal farmers and sharecroppers.

They alleged that political connection or bribe is often required to make it to the lottery list.

Besides, farmers often cannot bring the moisture content of their freshly cut paddy below 14 percent as required by the government.

Ali Hossain, a farmer in Chalan Beel area, could not sell paddy to the government because of this rule, even though he was selected at the lottery.

He said rice traders, mostly belonging to the ruling party, own facilities where they can dry paddy as per the government criteria.

They buy identity cards from village farmers selected through the lottery, and supply paddy -- bought at a lower price from farmers -- to local depots, mostly located in upazilas headquarters, at the higher rate fixed by the government.

"Last year, the traders bought farmers' cards for Tk 4,000 to Tk 6,000 each," he said, adding that the sales proceeds of the cards are the only profit the farmers get.

When farmers harvest paddy, the grains have a moisture level of 18 percent. After that, even if the paddy is dried several times on farmyards with mud surface, the moisture level does not come down below 16 percent, said an upazila food officer.

"If a farmer does not dry his rice on a concrete surface, it is not possible to reduce the moisture level down to 14 percent. So marginal farmers have to take care of their paddy separately if they want to sell it to a government depot," he said.

"But farmers are often in a hurry to sell their crops. Taking advantage of this, rice mill owners and traders are selling paddy to the government," said a food directorate official, seeking anonymity.

If the moisture content is higher than 14 percent, the paddy weight would fall by at least 1kg per maund (40kg) after a month, he added.

The discrepancy in the purchase weight would then put the official in charge of the local supply depot in trouble, the food official said.

Explaining how the lottery system creates problems in the procurement process, he said sometimes, the lottery generates names of farmers, who do not have rice to sell or are not willing to sell.

Even then, the farmers are pursued to sell their product because of the system, the food official added.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION?

Farmers opine they would benefit if the government buys paddy directly from them by setting up purchasing centres in large paddy haats.

Asked about this, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the government would not be able to buy paddy from a haat at a rate higher than market price.

The government would have to go by the price set by the market if they buy from haats, he said.

"Also, there is the problem of moisture. If we do not maintain the moisture level, the quantity of paddy will reduce after a few days. Also, we have to spend money on transporting rice to the local depot. It is a matter of huge cost," the minister said, questioning who would bear the transportation cost.

Quazi Shahabuddin, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, welcomed the government's move to increase paddy procurement saying more farmers will benefit from this.

He, however, urged the government to relax the moisture content regulation and accept the loss in weight for the current Boro season.

About buying paddy from haats, Shahabuddin said, it would take some time to eliminate the middlemen involved in the paddy trade.

The government has engaged the International Food Policy Research Institute  to come up with the most effective ways of procuring paddy that will benefit farmers, said Akhter Ahmed, country representative of the research organisation.