‘Procure at least 30% paddy’

When farmers are facing slumping prices amid a supply glut, speakers at a seminar in Dhaka today called upon the government to procure at least 30 percent paddy directly from the growers at fair price.

The government should issue ‘agriculture cards’ for farmers, set specific price list of crops and build sufficient storage to facilitate the farmers across the country, they said during the seminar.

Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) and Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) jointly arranged the seminar on “Fair Price of Paddy and Agricultural Crop: Concern and Suggestion” at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka this noon.

At present, the government procures 10 percent of total rice or paddy produced in the country though its stocking capacity around 30 lakh metric tons, said Poba Chairman Abu Naser Khan.

If the amount were 30 to 40 percent, then there would have been a sufficient stock for the government, he said.

He said only the government’s the high-volume procurement of paddy can handle the market mechanism and influence of syndication in this regard.

Alleging that the present National Agriculture Policy is not farmers-friendly, veteran politician Pankaj Bhattacharya said developed countries like the US and Canada provide risk and loss coverage to farmers.

The government should introduce the similar incentive package for the betterment of the farmers, he said.

BARCIK researcher Pavel Partha said at present the government was procuring limited amount of paddy from farmer, but the volume is needed to be increased to minimise loss of the farmers.

When paddy growers are facing a crisis over sharp fall of price, some government officials and ruling party leaders were ‘staging drama’ in the name of helping the farmers, said Azharul Islam, vice president of Bangladesh Krishok Shamiti.

They were seen busy having photo session with wearing new clothes instead of dealing with the farmers’ problems, he alleged.

Farmers are needed to be united for waging a tough movement to overcome their problems of the issue of paddy price fall, said Bangladesh Krishok League Central Committee Vice President Chhobi Biswas.