Give farmers a fair price

The people are fed up and frustrated with different statements coming from the government officials concerning fair price for the farmers’ food grains. One farmer in Tangail went as far as set his rice field on fire, but that hardly made any difference to the concerned authorities. The food minister criticised him, rather than showing him any empathy. It is obvious that it makes no difference to the authorities whether the farmers get their fair price or not.

The finance minister said that rice will continue to be imported, even if it means providing the farmers with subsidy for their produce. The agriculture minister had previously expressed the same sentiment. But that will take time. In the meantime, the farmers’ costs of production are not being covered. It costs them over 1000 taka to grow one maund of paddy, but that sells at only 550 to 650 taka in the open market. The farmers are frustrated and angry.

The parliamentary standing committee of the food ministry recommended that rice import be halted. We too feel that a stoppage on rice import will have a positive impact on the market. If the price of rice goes up in the open market, the rice mill owners will be forced to pay higher prices for the paddy. Every season the rice mill owners and the middle men go all out to swindle the farmers.
And the government, instead of procuring rice directly from the farmers, purchases this from the rice mill owners. The farmers suffer. The food department says they buy rice from the rice mills as the rice from the farmers is not sufficiently dry and so cannot be stocked in the warehouses.

However, amidst all this chaos and confusion, the Kushtia district administration has proven to be an exception. They are procuring 1000 maunds of rice directly from the farmers who are enlisted with the government. They are buying the rice from 25 farmers in each union of the district.

We hail this initiative by the Kushtia administration. They have set an example and the Natore administration is now following suit. But these are exceptions. It is the department of food that has to take such initiative. Had the food department taken such an initiative in time, the district administrations wouldn’t have had to intervene. The government should have a clear policy in place. If the rice mill owners can purchase paddy from the farmers, why can’t the food department?

The government must issue directives to all concerned to procure rice directly from the farmers. They shouldn’t allow the middle men and the rice mill owners to hold the farmers hostage. The sooner this is done, the better.