B Mirror Desk : The government’s ongoing ‘Boro’ purchasing program is moving slowly, despite a 9.0 percent rise in procurement rates. Traders attribute this to high open-market grain prices and a weak purchasing process. On April 24, the government launched its Boro procurement campaign with the goal of gathering 1.75 million tonnes of paddy and grains this season.

A plan has been established by the Directorate General of Food (DGoF) to purchase 0.35 million tonnes of paddy at Tk 36 per kg and 1.4 million tonnes of parboiled rice at Tk 49 per kg. The DGoF has only been able to acquire 6,000 tonnes of paddy and 0.16 million tons of rice thus far. According to a DGoF official, it was expected that at least 250,000 tonnes would be purchased over the previous two and a half weeks in order to stay on track to meet the goal by August 31.

But according to market sources, farmers are still reluctant to sell their harvest, even though the higher procurement costs may have drawn millers. Value chain specialist Mohammad Muzibul Hoque told the FE that because farmers had to buy fertilizers and other inputs at prices far higher than the government-fixed prices, the cost of producing rice increased by at least 20% this season. He claimed that the government’s procurement process does not provide local farmers with much assistance. The DGoF collects paddy with moisture contamination below 15 percent as part of its procurement program, which is very difficult for farmers to do without sufficient drying facilities, he said.

Mr. Hoque recommended that the government explore the option of directly purchasing wet paddy from farmers and storing it within farm households to boost their involvement in the procurement initiative. He pointed out that the current procurement strategy only allows rice collection from millers, emphasizing the necessity for a shift in this approach to enable farmers to sell directly to the Directorate General of Food (DGoF). The expert noted that the government’s stock levels are relatively stable, following the importation of approximately 1.1 million tonnes of rice through both public and private sectors. Achieving the boro procurement target would contribute to maintaining a secure food supply in the country, he remarked. TM Rashed Khan, Assistant Director at the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), reported that newly harvested coarse paddy is being sold for Tk 1,100-1,150 per maund (40 kg) in haor regions and Tk 1,250-1,300 in the plains. The prices for medium-quality BRRI Dhan-28 and finer Jeerashail varieties range from Tk 1,350 to Tk 1,450 per maund, according to the DAM official. He added that the prices at the grower level are 10-15 percent higher than last year, as millers and their associated traders are competing vigorously to procure paddy in advance. Md Moniruzzaman, Director of Procurement at the DGoF, indicated that there may be an increase in the official food-grain procurement drive in the coming weeks, as many millers are still processing paddy. ‘Our goal is to ensure fair prices for farmers,’ he stated. ‘This year, we have raised the paddy price by Tk 3.0 per kg. Current market reports suggest that farmers are profiting from the mainstream market.’

He expressed hope that a good harvest of boro crops and more imports would help offset any shortages in supply of this staple food. Presently, 1.0 million tonnes of rice are stored in public storage facilities, and growth is expected to be steady. SM Nazer Hossain, Vice President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told the FE that even with the new harvest, open market prices for rice are still abnormally high: “Coarse rice prices have risen to an unprecedented Tk 60-62 per kg in Dhaka and Chattogram this year,” he said, urging the government to keep a close eye on the situation to protect low-income consumers from excessive rice prices.