Pattern of selling surplus paddy is under process of changing
Farmers sell marketable surpluses within the first month of paddy harvesting, but the pattern of rice sales has changed during the boro season. The price of rice has gone up during the season as farmers are slowly selling from their paddy stocks.
A research report presented at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium on Tuesday (January 26) unveiled the reasons for the rise in prices of rice, potatoes and onions.
It is to be noted that the survey was conducted by three study teams under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture with the implementation of BARC and with the funding of Krishi Gabeshana Foundation (KGF) to find out the reasons for the increase in prices of rice, potatoes and onions. The survey was conducted in Naogaon, Sherpur, Cumilla and Dhaka districts for paddy / rice, Munshiganj, Bogura, Rangpur and Dhaka districts for potatoes and Faridpur, Natore, Pabna and Dhaka districts for onions.
The research report presented by BARC showed that the main reason behind the increase in rice prices is: almost all farmers sell marketable surplus within the first month of harvesting, the pattern of paddy sales has changed in the last boro season. In this season, farmers have gradually sold their paddy stocks. Traders and mill owners feared food shortages in the Corona situation and held stocks.
Potato stocks and low supply of potatoes from cold storage at the farmer and trader level in the hope of future price rise behind the increase in potato prices. Re-transfer of potato receipts stored in cold storage. Potato exports to a few neighboring countries. Huge stocks of potatoes by seasonal traders thereby artificial crisis created. As the monsoon season draws longer, vegetable production declines and demand for potatoes increases. The amount of potatoes stored in the cold storage is less. There are reasons such as insufficient distribution of potatoes by TCB.
One of the reasons behind the rise in onion prices is the manipulation of the market by the local unscrupulous trade syndicates and the reliance on Indian export bans or excessive import of onions on rice.
The study recommends overcoming the rising prices of rice, potatoes and onions, modernization of paddy / rice collection system, collection of paddy directly from farmers and converting it into rice through millers, announcement of separate Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the government for fine and coarse grained rice, to procure a minimum of 25 lakh tonnes of rice and to be able to procure about 10 per cent of the total production so that the government can effectively intervene in the market.
The storage and release of potatoes in cold storage is kept under control and surveillance by the government. Identify the manipulators of potato market and provide exemplary punishment against them, proper presentation and updating of information on production, demand, supply and price of potatoes by the government. Officially it is recommended to build stock of potatoes.
Quickly confront multiple exporters for onion imports in times of crisis to curb the rise in onion prices reducing import dependence by increasing domestic production. Advance management and well-thought-out planning of internal supply and storage has been recommended to determine and monitor the price of onion in the market throughout the year through the formation of Agricultural Price Commission (APC) to control the sudden rise in price of onion in the market.
Agriculture Minister said Dr. Abdur Razzak said the rice market has stabilized as a result of imports. This year rice, onion and potato - these three were more expensive. The government has taken a number of steps to reduce prices and keep the market stable. To reduce the price of rice, import duty has been reduced to 25 percent. As a result, the rice market has stabilized.
The Agriculture Minister further said that the production of rice in Aus and Aman has decreased due to continuous floods. On the other hand, mill owners and wholesalers have taken advantage of the fact that the government has not achieved its target for rice procurement and there is insufficient storage in government food warehouses and they took control of the market. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, all kinds of initiatives will be taken to meet the target of buying paddy rice in the coming boro season. Government stocks will be increased by buying rice so that the market is under the control of the government.
Noting that the market for any product will not be stable if production is not increased, the Minister said activities are underway to further increase the production of rice, potatoes and onions. In order to increase the production of rice, importance is being given to the cultivation of BRRI-87 and BINA-16 varieties of paddy. And a roadmap has been formulated to achieve self-sufficiency in onions.
On the occasion Agriculture Secretary Mesbahul Islam, BARC Executive Chairman Sheikh Mohammad Bakhtiyar presided, the UGV Vice-Chancellor and Study Team Coordinator Professor Jahangir Alam, BARC Member Director Mosharraf Uddin Mollah also spoke.