Food import unlikely in next 6 months
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Nizam Ahmed
The food department of the government is now otherwise comfortably placed to help avoid any fresh import of rice in the second half of the current fiscal year (FY), following a successful domestic procurement drive, officials said on Friday.
The food department procured this year nearly 820,000 tonnes of boro rice, exceeding the target of 600,000 tonnes.
The procurement drive this year was the 'most successful one in the last 15 years,' the relevant officials said.
"In addition, another 200,000 tonnes of aman rice are being procured," a senior official of the food department under the ministry of food and disaster management told the FE.
The food department considers that domestic production of foodgrains is sufficient to meet the country's demand in the next half of the current FY.
"We hope to manage the food situation well, with the additional output of rice and a healthy procurement at least until the end of the current FY, if nothing unusual happens," Bodrul Hasan, director (procurement) of the food department told the FE.
Bangladesh imported nearly 5.0 million tonnes of food in FY 2010-2011 against some 3.5 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.
However, the country, according to disaster management officials, is natural disaster-prone, being often hit by deadly floods and storms that cause extensive damage to food production, besides to other properties including infrastructural facilities worth millions of dollars.
"The rice production is likely to cross some 35 million tonnes in calendar year, 2011, with another record production of aman crop season," an official of the ministry of agricultural (MoA) told the FE.
However, he said the official figure of rice production in calendar year, 2011, is yet to be published. In calendar year, 2010 the rice production was some 34 million tonnes, he said.
Earlier at the onset of the current FY in July 2011, the food department estimated that the country would need to import some 1.7 million tonnes of foods including 800,000 tonnes of rice and another amount of 900,000 tonnes of wheat this fiscal (from July 2011 to June 30, 2012) to help maintain the prices at a stable level in the domestic market.
The government also expected some 150,000 tonnes of wheat from donors and international charitable organisations.
In the wake of a bumper paddy crop production so far in calendar year, 2011, the officials have lowered the level of requirement for rice import to 450,000 tonnes during the current fiscal and the import of the whole of this
requirement has already been made in the past few months, food officials said.
Out of the estimated wheat import requirement, some 350,000 tonnes of wheat was either bought or deals have already been concluded.
"The import of the remaining quantity of wheat are expected to arrive in time," a procurement official said.
Food officials said that the farmers, however, could not get a reasonable rate of return on their investment due to high costs of inputs.
They said food price should not go below from the current level, because a further fall in price would then discourage the farmers to deploy capital and put in their efforts to keep up the momentum to raise the level of food production.
Presently, rice is sold in the retail markets in major cities including Dhaka between Tk 24 and Tk 60 per kg, depending on the quality and outlets through which it is sold.
Meanwhile, the authorities concerned have built an emergency food stocks of 1.5 million tonnes of food grains against a total storage capacity at about 1.7 million tonnes.
Under an on-going project, the food department is, however, making efforts to further enhance this storage capacity to augment the emergency food stocks to a planned level of 3.0 million tonnes by the end of the current fiscal.
The food department of the government is now otherwise comfortably placed to help avoid any fresh import of rice in the second half of the current fiscal year (FY), following a successful domestic procurement drive, officials said on Friday.
The food department procured this year nearly 820,000 tonnes of boro rice, exceeding the target of 600,000 tonnes.
The procurement drive this year was the 'most successful one in the last 15 years,' the relevant officials said.
"In addition, another 200,000 tonnes of aman rice are being procured," a senior official of the food department under the ministry of food and disaster management told the FE.
The food department considers that domestic production of foodgrains is sufficient to meet the country's demand in the next half of the current FY.
"We hope to manage the food situation well, with the additional output of rice and a healthy procurement at least until the end of the current FY, if nothing unusual happens," Bodrul Hasan, director (procurement) of the food department told the FE.
Bangladesh imported nearly 5.0 million tonnes of food in FY 2010-2011 against some 3.5 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.
However, the country, according to disaster management officials, is natural disaster-prone, being often hit by deadly floods and storms that cause extensive damage to food production, besides to other properties including infrastructural facilities worth millions of dollars.
"The rice production is likely to cross some 35 million tonnes in calendar year, 2011, with another record production of aman crop season," an official of the ministry of agricultural (MoA) told the FE.
However, he said the official figure of rice production in calendar year, 2011, is yet to be published. In calendar year, 2010 the rice production was some 34 million tonnes, he said.
Earlier at the onset of the current FY in July 2011, the food department estimated that the country would need to import some 1.7 million tonnes of foods including 800,000 tonnes of rice and another amount of 900,000 tonnes of wheat this fiscal (from July 2011 to June 30, 2012) to help maintain the prices at a stable level in the domestic market.
The government also expected some 150,000 tonnes of wheat from donors and international charitable organisations.
In the wake of a bumper paddy crop production so far in calendar year, 2011, the officials have lowered the level of requirement for rice import to 450,000 tonnes during the current fiscal and the import of the whole of this
requirement has already been made in the past few months, food officials said.
Out of the estimated wheat import requirement, some 350,000 tonnes of wheat was either bought or deals have already been concluded.
"The import of the remaining quantity of wheat are expected to arrive in time," a procurement official said.
Food officials said that the farmers, however, could not get a reasonable rate of return on their investment due to high costs of inputs.
They said food price should not go below from the current level, because a further fall in price would then discourage the farmers to deploy capital and put in their efforts to keep up the momentum to raise the level of food production.
Presently, rice is sold in the retail markets in major cities including Dhaka between Tk 24 and Tk 60 per kg, depending on the quality and outlets through which it is sold.
Meanwhile, the authorities concerned have built an emergency food stocks of 1.5 million tonnes of food grains against a total storage capacity at about 1.7 million tonnes.
Under an on-going project, the food department is, however, making efforts to further enhance this storage capacity to augment the emergency food stocks to a planned level of 3.0 million tonnes by the end of the current fiscal.