The government is hopeful that the rice production will increase this year in the Boro season. According to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, Boro paddy has been cultivated on 4.9 million (49 lakh) hectares of land in Bangladesh this year which is 50,000 hectares more than the previous year. It can be assumed that the rice production would increase by 500,000 (5 lakh) tonnes from this.
However, this additional production of Boro is not necessarily reassuring. The yield of upcoming Aman and Aush seasons should also be kept in mind. Usually there are more natural calamities during the Aman season.
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) director general Md Shahjahan Kabir told Prothom Alo that the production of rice in the country will exceed 40 million (4 crore) tonnes this year, which is at least 4 million (40 lakh) more than the country’s demand. So, there’s no need for rice import.
Whether these promising words from Md Shajahan Kabir would be able to reassure the consumers about the price of rice or not, that is the question. For along with the increase in the production of rice, its demand has increased as well. Meanwhile, the production cost has also increased. For failing to provide uninterrupted electricity during the Boro season, the farmers had to buy fuel at a high price for irrigation.
The rise and fall of agricultural products including rice usually depend on the production cost and the supply system. There’s no way to deny it that the public is reaping the benefits of government subsidy in the agriculture sector. Despite the increasing demand, Bangladesh is almost self-sufficient in food grain.
However one of the key weaknesses of government’s assistance policy is the failure to achieve the rice and paddy procurement targets. The government has decided to buy 500,000 (5 lakh) tonnes of paddy from the farmers at the rate of Tk 32 per kg during the Boro season in this current year.
In addition to the paddy, it has also been stated that 1.1 million (11 lakh) tonnes of parboiled rice and 100,000 (1 lakh) tonnes of Atap rice would be bought at the rate of Tk 45 per kg.
If the paddy and rice procurement targets are met, on one hand the farmers will get a fair price for the grain while food security will be consolidated on the other. Failure to do so would result in the benefits being devoured by mill owners and dealers.
When the price of rice is low the farmers gets deprived and when the price is high it increases pressure on low income people. According to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) research, the ultra-poor spend 32 per cent of their earnings to buy rice while the poor spend 29 per cent.
In order to stabilise the price, the government has to meet the paddy and rice procurement targets as well as increase supply in the market in alternative ways so that low income people can buy rice for a lower price. At present, the amount of rice sold in the open market through TCB is so small that a large chunk of the poor community is left out.
The price of rice is rising in the global market. Meanwhile, the countries including India, from where we import rice often impose ban on export. In that case there’s no alternative to become self-sufficient in rice production. But, that would only be possible when the farmers would get fair prices for their produces.
Sometimes, there are inconsistencies in the records of paddy and rice reserve. Different agencies provide different statistics. Coordination among the concerning ministries is required to solve this problem. The main point is the government has to take effective and sustainable steps to protect the interests of both the producers and the consumers.