North's 'rice bowl' sees steady price hike

Bags of rice being loaded onto trucks as traders from 'outside' prepare to transport the item to different districts from Panchbarihat in Dinajpur Sadar uapzila yesterday.Photo: STAR

Rice prices shot up by Tk 200 to 250 per 85kg bag in last two weeks although four northern districts of Dinajpur, Thakurgaon Joypurhat and Panchagarh saw abundant rice production in last Aman season.
A bag of swarna, ranjit and paijam varieties of rice sold for Tk 2520, 2830 and 3230 about 15 days ago, but the prices have now gone up to Tk 2750, 3100 and 3485 respectively, said local retailers.
Other long-grain varieties of rice have also seen price rise in recent days.
As buyers from different districts are collecting paddy and rice directly from the farmers, local markets see shortage of supply against the demand, said traders and brokers of several grain markets in the district.
Akbar Ali, a rice trader of Nashipur Hat in Dinajpur, said he purchased swarna paddy for Tk 1,220 to 1,260 per bag [85kg] only 15 days ago but the same paddy is selling for Tk 1,300 to 1320 per bag.
When contacted, Md Mosaddeque Hossain, president of Dinajpur Rice Mill Owners and Operators Association, said the prices rose as buyers of different districts including Barisal, Tangail, Comilla, Kushtia and Mymensingh are purchasing paddy and rice directly from the farmers for high prices and taking it outside the district.
Despite scanty rainfall and adverse weather conditions in the region during the peak Aman season, four northern districts saw good rice production this year, said Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials in Dinajpur.
Field level data show that farmers in these districts got about 2.5 tonnes of paddy per hectare on an average although the target was about 2.4 tonnes per hectare.
Dinajpur DAE officials said about 6,26,000 tonnes of Aman rice have been produced from 2,51,920 hectares of land in the district.
Thakurgaon district produced 3,23850 tonnes of rice from 1,27,500 hectares of land [2.54 tonnes per hectare], Joypurhat produced 1,80,000 tonnes of rice from about 72,000 hectares land [2.5 tonnes per hectare] and Panchagarh district got 1,19,370 tonnes of rice from 51,900 hectares [2.3 tonnes per hectare], said DAE officials concerned.