Bangladesh raises local rice purchase price

FE Team | Published: October 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Labourer works at a rice mill

Bangladesh raised the price the government will pay to farmers for the upcoming season's rice to 32 taka ($0.40) a kilogram, up from 30 taka a year ago, the food minister said on Monday, reports Reuters.
The government will buy 300,000 tonnes of rice from local farmers starting from Nov. 15, Mohammad Kamrul Islam told reporters.
"The purchase will boost our reserves as well as ensure fair price for farmers," he said.
Such procurement is crucial for the South Asian nation to feed its poor and keep domestic prices stable.
The government buys rice and wheat from local farmers to ensure a support price, build stocks for government's welfare programmes and to meet emergency needs.
Bangladesh aims to produce more than 34 million tonnes of rice in the current year, up from nearly 33.5 million in the previous year.
The world's fourth biggest producer of rice, Bangladesh consumes almost all its production to feed its population of 160 million, but often needs imports to cope with shortages caused by natural calamities such as floods or droughts.
Although it did not import rice over the last two years, Bangladesh was ranked as the fourth-largest importer of the grain by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2011, with a volume of 1.48 million tonnes.
The state grains buyer will import 250,000 tonnes of wheat at $297.50 a tonne in a government-to-government deal with Ukraine, as part of an effort to ensure food supplies.