The government has fixed the procurement price of Boro paddy from the farmers at Tk 26 per kg and rice at Tk 38 per kg this year.
The procurement price of parboiled (Atap) rice has been fixed at Tk 37 per kg.
The decision was taken on Sunday at a meeting of the food planning and monitoring unit at the Bangladesh Secretariat with Food Minister Advocate Qamrul Islam in the chair.
The government will procure 0.9 million (9.0 lakh) tonnes of Boro rice including 0.1 million (1.0 lakh) tonnes of parboiled rice. The government will also procure 150,000 tonnes of paddy during the upcoming Boro season.
The procurement drive will start from May 2 and will continue until August next.
After the meeting, the food minister told the media that in the current year the production cost of Borro paddy stood at Tk 24 per kg and rice Tk 36 per kg.
Last year, the cost of Boro paddy production was Tk 22 per kg and rice Tk 31 per kg.
The government procured 0.8 million tonnes of rice at Tk 34 per kg last year and also procured 0.7 million tonnes of paddy at Tk 24 per kg.
The country has a stock of 1.29 million tonnes of foodgrain. The government has set a target to produce 19 million (1.9 crore) tonnes of Boro rice during the current season.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and other high officials of thee ministry, among others, were present.
A report of bdnews24.com adds: Due to sufficient food stocks, the government has reduced its domestic procurement target this year.
Heavy rains, mountain run-off and three rounds of floods devastated last year's Boro crop and forced the government to lower tariffs and import a substantial amount of rice to stabilise the market.
According to the food ministry, the government has 969,000 tonnes of rice and 362,000 tonnes of wheat in its reserves. The government will not procure wheat this year.
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