The production of rice in the Boro season this year was an all-time high of 20.26-million tonnes, said a government agency on Sunday.
The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) said the country might have 5.55-million tonnes of surplus rice until next November following such bumper production.
The BRRI disclosed this during a webinar styled 'National Seminar on Food Security in the COVID-19 Era: Is Bangladesh Really Going to Face Any Rice Shortage in the Short Run?'
Agriculture minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque spoke at the virtual event as the chief guest.
Food minister Shadhan Chandra was linked as the special guest while planning commission member Dr Shamsul Alam as the guest of honour.
Agriculture secretary Md Nasiruzzaman chaired the event where food secretary Dr Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, among others, also spoke.
The BRRI conducted five researches since mid-April this year based on reports of 1,048 crop harvest spots in 64 districts by the institute and 0.213 spots by agricultural extension department.
According to the BRRI, there will be no shortage of rice following a bumper production in the Boro season.
It said rice production increased to 20.26 million tonnes despite a decline in acreage by 0.71 per cent.
However, 20.03-million tonnes of Boro rice were produced on 4.9-million hectares of land in 2019.
The BRRI said farmers have 29 per cent of paddy at their home now which was 20 per cent of the total production in the last Boro season.
The storage by the government and millers are comparatively low this year as farmers were preserving more paddy, it cited.
The BRRI research shows rice production has increased despite the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The institute said supply chain remained normal in the March-July period even during the coronavirus lockdown.
Millers are still benefiting from supplying rice at the government-fixed rate, it added.
The rice production cost is Tk 27.86 to Tk 35.80 based on varieties for millers this Boro season and the average cost is Tk 32.34 a kg for them.
The government is purchasing rice at Tk 35-36 a kg.
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