Procurement of foodgrains still far behind target

FE Team | Published: September 28, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
The government will have to buy more than half a million tonnes of foodgrain within next one month from the local markets to fulfil its procurement target of total 1.5 million tonnes of rice and paddy, officials said Saturday.
Failing to procure the targeted quantity of foodgrain within its stipulated four and a half months period until September 30, the government last week extended the procurement time until 31st of the next month (October).
The food directorate procured nearly 0.9 million tonnes of rice and 45,000 tonnes of paddy from the local markets until last week in a bid to make a buffer stock of foodgrains in the country.
As the full quantity of rice and paddy procurement target could not be achieved, the time extension was necessary, Director General of the directorate of food Pius Costa told the FE.
"Our main objective of time extension was to give price support to farmers through buying the staple food during the newly extended time," he said adding if the government concludes its procurement drive the rice price will fall and the farmers will not get fair price.
The government started rice and paddy procurement since April 16 when the harvesting of the country's major crop Boro started, fixing the rice price at Tk28 per kg and paddy at Tk 18 per kg.
The government had planned to complete the procurement by August 31, 2008.
But due to non-fulfilment of procurement, it extended the time until to September 30 for fulfilling the procurement target of 1.5 million tonnes of rice and paddy.
Following the steep rise in rice price in the international market and rice production shortfall in the last Aus and Aman seasons due to flood and cyclone Sidr in late 2007, the country faced an acute food supply shortage.
Its price soared by 60 per cent in the local market compared to the previous year.
The situation has prompted the government to make a buffer stock of foodgrains in the country this year and it decided to some 1.2 million tonnes of rice and 0.3 million tonnes of paddy.
"If we withdraw the rice procurement drive, there is a possibility of fall in rice price in the local market. Then the farmers will not get fair price and they may be discouraged to cultivate rice in the next season," Mr. Costa said.
"So we feel extension of the procurement period for another one month will give price support to the farmers and will ensure food security in future," he said.
When asked whether the target will be fulfilled within the extended time (October 31), the director general said, "we hope we will be able to achieve the target but the limited storage capacity could hamper the drive to some extents.
"All the existing public warehouses have a capacity to store 1.475 million tonnes of food. The country has about 1.33 million tonnes of rice stock and 0.116 million tonnes of wheat stocks," he said adding this is the second highest stock after the year 1988.
"We will have to procure another 0.57 million tonnes of rice during this year to fulfil the total procurement target. Besides, 0.2 million tonnes of imported wheat will arrive in the country within October. So, storage of those foodgrains could be a problem," Pius Costa said.
He said at present the rice millers and farmers are supplying 6000 to 7000 tonnes of rice to the food directorate every day.
The chief of the food directorate said sudden price rise from late August to first week of September has hampered the procurement at that time. "But now the problem has been overcome."