Boro procurement reaches 74pc of target so far

The government has so far achieved 74 per cent of Boro procurement target set for this season and is expecting to build up a handsome storage in the public food warehouses.
Experts also put emphasis on maximising public food stock to tackle any market volatility in the off seasons.
Despite a five-week long student protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina's government, the Directorate General of Food (DGoF) has so far been able to procure 1.27 million tonnes of rice and paddy against a target of 1.7 million tonnes.
Of the 1.3 million tonnes of rice procurement target, the DGoF could collect 1.15 million tonnes so far, said an official, adding that paddy procurement would be half of the target.
He said the primary target was to collect the entire 1.7 million tonnes of rice, paddy and wheat by August 31. "But the deadline would be extended to achieve the target."

The DGoF official also informed that the public warehouses now have 1.8 million tonnes of food grain - 1.45 million tonnes rice and the rest is wheat.
Meanwhile, prices of different varieties of rice increased by Tk 4.0-5.0 a kg in the last three weeks due to the unrest in the country, traders said.
Jewel Rana, a grocer at West Dhanmondi, said traders started raising rice prices from the third week of July on the excuse of the students' protest.
He said prices of a 50 kg sack of BRRI dhan 28, Swarna or Miniket increased by Tk 150-180 per sack. "We're selling it at Tk 65 and Miniket at Tk 76-78 per kg."
He said the supply of coarse rice is limited and it is being sold at Tk 55-56 a kg.
Farid Hossain, a rice trader at Mohammadpur Krishi Market, said rain across the country first hit the husking millers in July, making it difficult to dry paddy.
Later, the students' protest started across the country causing a supply disruption, resulting in a surge in prices, he said.
Prof Golam Hafiz Kennedy, a farm economist, said the Boro season witnessed a bumper production of 21 million tonnes, according to a government estimate.
He said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) should provide rice production data of FY'24 as early as possible to frame import policy timely.
He said that the asking rate of rice procurement is a handsome amount of Tk 44 a kg for the millers which attracted them to supply rice to the government.
Though the global rice prices showed a slight decline in July, he said, sourcing the food grain from the foreign market is still very difficult due to higher prices and shortage of US dollar.
Prof Kennedy said the interim government should maximise its food grain storage to tackle any instability in the off season that prevails from October to November.
He also put high emphasis on providing all logical support to the farmers to achieve the output target in the ongoing Aman season, the second biggest rice cropping season after Boro.
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