Fine rice and favourite fish to fetch greenbacks again ?
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Ameer Hamza
A number of news items carried by TFE over the past week [ India to halt rice, wheat export to Bangladesh 25/07/09; Ban on aromatic rice export set to go (in Bangladesh) 24/07/09 ] may be seen as revealing the differences in the mindsets of decision-makers in Bangladesh and India. The Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, anxious over the erratic monsoon this season, has taken pre-emptive action to keep the country's home-grown grain for its own people, even going so far as to 'ban scheduled exports of non-premium varieties of rice as well as wheat as part of its contingency plans'. By contrast, our food and commerce ministries appear rather upbeat about the prospect of exporting the staple grain once again, 10,000 tonnes of the aromatic variety in the first phase, after the temporary ban is lifted, imposed when some quarters complained of malpractices like substituting fine rice with coarser grain.
High officials in the commerce ministry were quoted as saying, the businesses will be benefited by the decision about allowing export of rice, and the local consumers will have no reason to be worried over the supply situation following the bumper boro harvest. But well-wishers warn against the export of rice for an 'unlimited period.' But given the prospect of making a fifty taka profit per kg of aromatic rice exported, the love of greenbacks is likely to get the better of all involved in the trade. Many of Bangladesh's delectable food items have been on the export list of dollar-hungry traders, from the humble Kochur Lothi to the Macher Raja Ilish, not to forget the soul-satisfying, flavoured rice varieties that have few parallels in the world. These are much sought after by the booming Bangladeshi 'curry industry'in Britain and elsewhere.
No matter how low-yielding the Kalijira, Chinigura and other aromatic varieties are, and how inadequate the annual production, the government had encouraged export of these much cherished grains as early as the 1990s, to earn foreign exchange. In the bargain, it has pushed prices at home sky high. These varieties may soon disappear from the domestic market if current trends are any guide ---- may be going the lobster's way, delighting only up-market palates in foreign lands. Kalijira and other varieties of 'luxury' rice are savoured as a treat not only by the elite but even by the ordinary Bangladeshi who can reward himself/herself once in a while with the pricey 'polao' or 'biriyani'. Dhaka city alone is said to consume over a hundred tonnes of Kalijira or Chinigura. Putting these varieties on the export list as a non-traditional item, even with specified limits, means slowly but surely robbing the average citizen of the pleasure of purchasing it without pain. Should a handful of exporters ( 300 have so far applied for permission to export the grain, according to a TFE report) be permitted to deprive hundreds of thousands of home-based consumers of this rare delight, ask simple-minded folk who have no idea about the lure of dollars. In 2007-2008 Bangladesh exported nine million dollars worth of rice. Of course we spend a great deal more importing food grains to complement domestic production of 'everyday' rice and wheat.
The import-export game may not be fathomable to many but it is generally agreed that the policy of earning foreign exchange should have some reasonable limit when it involves exporting much treasured food items. It is important to maintain a happy balance between home supply and exportable quantity. Surely the people of Bangladesh have a right to buy their best foods at affordable prices even if they are in high demand as foreign exchange earners. Or are they condemned to desire nothing more than coarse HYV rice and sub-standard imports while the best delight the rich alone, at home and abroad ?
We need to be more sensitive with regard to trading in food items. The home market should not be so deprived as to create a famine in the items earmarked for export, such as the Hilsha, considered the world's tastiest fish by many here. It used to be so abundant that even the poorest could afford to enjoy it every day. But now it is beyond the reach of even the middle class in the bid to trawl in dollars. The delectable Poddar Ilish is now meant only for markets abroad and conspicuous consumers at home. The palates of Bengali brethren across our western border, in particular, pine for the Hilsha so much so that Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, recently wrote to the Prime Minister's principal secretary , requesting withdrawal of the 'minimum export price' (MEP) of Hilsha. Prior to the MEP, Bangladesh used to export about 5000 tonnes of Hilsha per year to India alone. Then, it was said our Hilsha use to cost less in Kolkata than in Dhaka !
A number of news items carried by TFE over the past week [ India to halt rice, wheat export to Bangladesh 25/07/09; Ban on aromatic rice export set to go (in Bangladesh) 24/07/09 ] may be seen as revealing the differences in the mindsets of decision-makers in Bangladesh and India. The Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, anxious over the erratic monsoon this season, has taken pre-emptive action to keep the country's home-grown grain for its own people, even going so far as to 'ban scheduled exports of non-premium varieties of rice as well as wheat as part of its contingency plans'. By contrast, our food and commerce ministries appear rather upbeat about the prospect of exporting the staple grain once again, 10,000 tonnes of the aromatic variety in the first phase, after the temporary ban is lifted, imposed when some quarters complained of malpractices like substituting fine rice with coarser grain.
High officials in the commerce ministry were quoted as saying, the businesses will be benefited by the decision about allowing export of rice, and the local consumers will have no reason to be worried over the supply situation following the bumper boro harvest. But well-wishers warn against the export of rice for an 'unlimited period.' But given the prospect of making a fifty taka profit per kg of aromatic rice exported, the love of greenbacks is likely to get the better of all involved in the trade. Many of Bangladesh's delectable food items have been on the export list of dollar-hungry traders, from the humble Kochur Lothi to the Macher Raja Ilish, not to forget the soul-satisfying, flavoured rice varieties that have few parallels in the world. These are much sought after by the booming Bangladeshi 'curry industry'in Britain and elsewhere.
No matter how low-yielding the Kalijira, Chinigura and other aromatic varieties are, and how inadequate the annual production, the government had encouraged export of these much cherished grains as early as the 1990s, to earn foreign exchange. In the bargain, it has pushed prices at home sky high. These varieties may soon disappear from the domestic market if current trends are any guide ---- may be going the lobster's way, delighting only up-market palates in foreign lands. Kalijira and other varieties of 'luxury' rice are savoured as a treat not only by the elite but even by the ordinary Bangladeshi who can reward himself/herself once in a while with the pricey 'polao' or 'biriyani'. Dhaka city alone is said to consume over a hundred tonnes of Kalijira or Chinigura. Putting these varieties on the export list as a non-traditional item, even with specified limits, means slowly but surely robbing the average citizen of the pleasure of purchasing it without pain. Should a handful of exporters ( 300 have so far applied for permission to export the grain, according to a TFE report) be permitted to deprive hundreds of thousands of home-based consumers of this rare delight, ask simple-minded folk who have no idea about the lure of dollars. In 2007-2008 Bangladesh exported nine million dollars worth of rice. Of course we spend a great deal more importing food grains to complement domestic production of 'everyday' rice and wheat.
The import-export game may not be fathomable to many but it is generally agreed that the policy of earning foreign exchange should have some reasonable limit when it involves exporting much treasured food items. It is important to maintain a happy balance between home supply and exportable quantity. Surely the people of Bangladesh have a right to buy their best foods at affordable prices even if they are in high demand as foreign exchange earners. Or are they condemned to desire nothing more than coarse HYV rice and sub-standard imports while the best delight the rich alone, at home and abroad ?
We need to be more sensitive with regard to trading in food items. The home market should not be so deprived as to create a famine in the items earmarked for export, such as the Hilsha, considered the world's tastiest fish by many here. It used to be so abundant that even the poorest could afford to enjoy it every day. But now it is beyond the reach of even the middle class in the bid to trawl in dollars. The delectable Poddar Ilish is now meant only for markets abroad and conspicuous consumers at home. The palates of Bengali brethren across our western border, in particular, pine for the Hilsha so much so that Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, recently wrote to the Prime Minister's principal secretary , requesting withdrawal of the 'minimum export price' (MEP) of Hilsha. Prior to the MEP, Bangladesh used to export about 5000 tonnes of Hilsha per year to India alone. Then, it was said our Hilsha use to cost less in Kolkata than in Dhaka !