Rice import from India hurting Bangladeshi farmers: BNP

Bangladesh should stop importing rice as it is preventing local farmers from getting proper prices for their produce. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the demand at a press briefing of Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal Saturday.
 “This government has been extremely indifferent to farmers. We have had a very good harvest but yet farmers are facing losses. They can’t sell the grains they have produced.”
“There are tonnes of freshly harvested paddy in their storage but the government is either buying it directly or allowing its favoured importers to buy duty-free rice from India so that they can make profits … and our farmers are left with nothing,” said Fakhrul, a former junior agriculture minister.
BNP’s acting secretary general, who also heads the party’s Krishak Dal, said 60,000 poultry farms had closed down because of the government’s policies. Investments in fishery sector too dried up, he said, while accusing the government of cutting subsidies meant for farmers. Krishak Dal also demanded that the government immediately procure paddy or rice from farmers, besides stopping import of corn from India, according to a news agency.