Boro prices plummeting

According to a report in a leading Bangla daily Boro farmers are being deprived of rational prices for their paddy. Although a 10 percent tax on rice import in May, it has not had the desired effect. The special branch of the police has sent a report describing the situation in 15 districts to the ministry of home affairs. It states that price in local markets is about half the government-declared rate and with frustration levels running high, untoward incidents could happen.

The minister of agriculture has gone on record to state that the daily demand for rice is about 100,000 tons and the imported quantity is 1.3 million tons, which would meet demand for 13 days and hence not adversely affect the market. Prices have plummeted to Tk650 per mound, whereas the government price is Tk880 for the same quantity. The problem is that a coterie of middlemen comprising of rice mill owners and unscrupulous officials in the food department are procuring low priced rice from the market and supplying to the government warehouses reaping windfall profits.

The only logical way out of this quandary is if authorities made it possible for farmers to sell directly to the government. Unless such steps are taken, farmers will incur inordinate losses, from which it will be difficult to recuperate. And if farmers lose out in a big way on growing paddy, they will be dissuaded from growing paddy in the next season – an unthinkable situation for food security in the country.