New warehouses to store food stocks planned
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Bangladesh is planning to build new warehouses as its emergency food stocks has been rising, a senior food official said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
The country started raising emergency food stocks through domestic and overseas procurements, after twin floods and a devastating cyclone damaged some 3.0 million tonnes of rice and wheat crops last year.
"We are planning to build new warehouses to increase storage capacity," Pius Costa, Director General of Food Department told the news agency.
Bangladesh presently has capacity to store some 1.4 million tonnes foodgrains, mostly rice.
More warehouses are needed as the emergency stocks surpassed 1.0 million tonnes so far and is likely to reach 1.5 million tonnes shortly as India has started to despatch the rest 50 percent of some 500,000 tonnes rice it pledged to export early this year, he said.
India agreed to export the rice to Bangladesh at $430 a tonne in March, after devastating cyclone Sidr ravaged the country in November, killing nearly 3,300 people and destroying 1.8 million tonnes of rice in field.
Nearly 50 percent of the Indian cargo have already arrived.
Out of some 1.0 tonnes of emergency food stocks built so far, some 675,000 tonnes of rice was procured internally after the country harvested some 19.5 million tonnes of the pre-monsoon variety "boro" rice in May.
The rest were met through imports. The country also has a target to procure more 825,000 tonnes of rice though internal procurement.
Bangladesh usually maintains some 1.0 million tonnes of foodstocks, but it was greatly depleted following a massive relief works after the Cyclone Sidr.
The country started raising emergency food stocks through domestic and overseas procurements, after twin floods and a devastating cyclone damaged some 3.0 million tonnes of rice and wheat crops last year.
"We are planning to build new warehouses to increase storage capacity," Pius Costa, Director General of Food Department told the news agency.
Bangladesh presently has capacity to store some 1.4 million tonnes foodgrains, mostly rice.
More warehouses are needed as the emergency stocks surpassed 1.0 million tonnes so far and is likely to reach 1.5 million tonnes shortly as India has started to despatch the rest 50 percent of some 500,000 tonnes rice it pledged to export early this year, he said.
India agreed to export the rice to Bangladesh at $430 a tonne in March, after devastating cyclone Sidr ravaged the country in November, killing nearly 3,300 people and destroying 1.8 million tonnes of rice in field.
Nearly 50 percent of the Indian cargo have already arrived.
Out of some 1.0 tonnes of emergency food stocks built so far, some 675,000 tonnes of rice was procured internally after the country harvested some 19.5 million tonnes of the pre-monsoon variety "boro" rice in May.
The rest were met through imports. The country also has a target to procure more 825,000 tonnes of rice though internal procurement.
Bangladesh usually maintains some 1.0 million tonnes of foodstocks, but it was greatly depleted following a massive relief works after the Cyclone Sidr.