The government Thursday fixed the target to procure 1.10 million tonnes of rice for this Boro season which will start from May 1 next.
Of the total, 1.0 million tonnes will be rice while 0.15 million tonnes will be paddy.
The procurement price of per kg of Boro rice has been fixed at Tk 31 while paddy at Tk 20. The production cost of paddy was Tk 17.50 while that of rice Tk 26.50 per kg.
Besides, the government will also procure 0.15 million tonnes of wheat from next month (April). Per kg of wheat will be procured at Tk 27.
The Boro rice and paddy procurement drive will continue for four months while that of wheat for three months.
"We have set the target to procure 1.0 million tonnes of Boro rice and 0.15 million tonnes of paddy from 1st May 2014. The procurement drive will continue for four months," Food Minister Quamrul Islam told the media after a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (FPMC) at the conference room of his ministry.
He said the government will buy Boro rice from the millers while paddy from the farmers.
"We have fixed the prices of Boro rice and paddy considering the interests of the farmers," he said.
He said the government has fixed the procurement prices taking the production cost into consideration.
"We have fixed the procurement prices based on the production cost," he mentioned.
Last year, the government had procured paddy at Tk 18.50 per kg while rice at Tk 29 and wheat at Tk 25.
In reply to a question, the minister said the new procurement prices would have no impact on the market as they fixed the same keeping in mind the interest of the farmers.
Asked about the production during the current season he said, "We expect that the production of Boro paddy will be 18.9 million tonnes during the current year".
Last year the government had targeted to procure 0.9 million tonnes of rice and 0.15 million tonnes of paddy which was fulfilled.
The total foodgrains stock in the country is now 1.93 million tonnes. Out of the amount, 0.82 million tonnes are rice while 0.273 million tonnes are wheat.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and senior officials of the ministries concerned, among others, were present at the meeting.
