Ignoring instructions of PM, Rice imports were delayed

In August Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Strongly instructed to import rice Last year, Five months later, the food ministry to implement the directive the prime minister's instructions !
During this period the price of rice has gone up. The government's reserves are also decreasing day by day. The government has not been able to facilitate imports due to rising rice prices in the international market. In this situation, the government is relying on the risky paddy rice.

Concerned officials say it is difficult to rely on the Paddy rice . This is because the paddy can be submerged in the flood of the haor even before it is harvested. If paddy is wasted in Haor, it has a direct impact on the price of rice. The government has to rely on that risky paddy.

The government has no way but to rely on Boro. Because of the failure to procure rice from the domestic market, the Food Department extended its hand to the international market. Private sector imports were opened up before the rice was procured. This increased the price of rice in the international market. And that is why the contract suppliers are not able to supply rice to the government warehouses. The Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement has canceled three tenders for various reasons including lack of adequate number of bidders. In this situation, the stock of government rice is decreasing rapidly. On March 17, the stock of rice was 4 lakh 6 thousand tons. At this time last year it was more than 14 lakh tons. As per the government, coarse boiled rice is being sold in the retail market at a price of Tk 48. And the price of fine rice is 60 taka. The people concerned do not see the possibility of reducing the price of rice before the rise of Boro paddy.

Food Secretary. Nazmanara told Khanum , 'We are trying to import rice. Due to the increase in the price of rice in the international market and the lack of ships, the import of rice is being delayed.

When the Prime Minister allowed the import of rice on August 8, the price of rice in the world market was low. The price of coarse rice was also under control in the country. Aman paddy has not been harvested yet. If the import started at that time, rice would come to the country in phases. The price of rice did not rise continuously. Now Bangladesh has started importing in both public and private sectors simultaneously. As a result, prices are rising rapidly in the world market. Asked why the import was not started at that time despite the Prime Minister's order to import it, the food secretary said, There was also the issue of Auschwitz. If rice was imported at that time, farmers would not get a fair price for paddy. Rice was not imported considering the issues.

Asked if Boroi is the only hope in this situation, he said, "Although Boro is risky, Boro is a place of trust." It would be good if Boro could collect. If not, safe stocks will have to be built with rice bought from the international market.

Do you think that the international market price of rice has increased as the government has opened it up to the private sector before buying rice? Nazmanara said, 'I don't think so. Because we decided to import rice a long time ago. It was opened in the private sector that day.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 8 last year directed to import rice from the international market. But the food ministry started the process of importing rice last December. Asked why he had been sitting for five months, a Food Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, "The crisis is mainly due to statistical deficiencies. Agriculture experts said that there is a lot of stock of paddy at the grassroots level. They are not selling paddy in the market for fear of corona. Farmers will leave the stored old paddy before the new paddy grows. Then the price of rice will come down in the market. It is too late to start importing rice from the international market mainly relying on this information of the agriculture officials.

Food department officials said 1.1 million tonnes of rice would come to the public sector. The agreement has already been signed for 9 lakh tons. Only 1 lakh 95 thousand tons came. After the cancellation of three tenders, the process of bringing 1.5 lakh tons under three more tenders has started. PK Agri has supplied 50,000 tonnes of rice at a price of ৪ 418 per tonne. Rica Global has supplied 41,000 tons of rice for ৬ 406. Another 11,000 tons are floating. PK Agri agreed to supply another 50,000 tons at a price of ৪ 420. 6 thousand 391 tons were found. Another 9,063 tons are on the way. ETC Agro has brought 48,000 tons of rice. Although Agrocorp signed a contract for 50,000 tonnes on January 14, it has not yet been able to supply 30,000 tonnes.

Under the G2G agreement, which was signed on January 8, 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice was supposed to come from India, but 23,000 tonnes came. There are 4,690 tons floating in the port. There are 6,069 tons on the way. An agreement was reached on February 24 to import another 100,000 tonnes from India. This rice has not been found yet. The process of importing another 1.5 lakh tonnes from India has been started. An agreement was reached on February 4 to import 100,000 tonnes of G2G from Myanmar. Process has been started to import 50,000 tonnes from Vietnam and 1.5 lakh tonnes from Thailand.

Asked why the tender did not get the expected response, Food Department officials said the international market was booming. The price of rice in the international market is around ৪ 450 per tonne. There is also food crisis in the country. The government opened up the import market without meeting the stock targets. Rice prices have risen further after private importers entered the market. Due to this, even the suppliers contracted with the government are not able to give rice. And private importers are also facing various obstacles in importing. Private importers mainly import rice from India by road. But in the border districts of India, trucks loaded with other goods are being given priority over rice. Attempts are being made to resolve the issue at the diplomatic level.

Privately, 320 importers have been allowed to import rice. They have opened LCs to import 6 lakh 26 thousand tons of rice. 3 lakh 60 thousand tons of rice has come through them.

Agriculture Minister. Md. Abdur Razzak told , “Boro paddy cultivation has exceeded the target. At the same time, emphasis has been laid on increasing the cultivation of hybrid rice this year to increase production. Paddy production will be better if there is no major natural calamity. There will be no problem if the rice from all over the country including haor can be brought home properly.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, the target for cultivation in Boro this time was set at 48 lakh 5 thousand 200 hectares of land. It has been planted in 46 lakh 73 thousand 60 hectares of land. The target for hybrid paddy production is set at 11 lakh 4 thousand 633 hectares of land. Planted in 12 lakh 13 thousand 450 hectares of land. This year, an incentive of around Tk 145 crore has been distributed among the farmers for free seed assistance to increase the planting and production of boro paddy.

The country produces more than three and a half crore tonnes of rice annually. Of this, about 1.5 crore tonnes of rice comes from the aman season. The government wanted to procure a total of eight and a half lakh tonnes of foodgrains from the domestic market during the Aman season as it could not procure the required amount of paddy and rice during the last Boro season. Of this, the target was to buy two lakh tonnes of paddy and six and a half lakh tonnes of rice. But failed to meet the target. The government failed to meet the target even in the last Boro season.

The bail of the rice mill owners who failed to supply boiled and roasted rice in the last aman season is being confiscated. A letter has been sent from the Food Department to the regional food regulators directing the confiscation of the deposit.

The aman collection campaign ended on March 15. In order to meet the target of six lakh tonnes of boiled rice, an agreement was reached with the rice mill owners to purchase 129,019 tonnes of boiled rice and 14,061 tonnes of boiled rice against the target of 50,000 tonnes of boiled rice. Contrary to the agreement, 8,998 tonnes of cooked rice and 4,759 tonnes of sun-dried rice have been collected till March 15. According to the agreement, the rice mill owners failed to supply 70,022 tonnes of boiled rice and 9,212 tonnes of atap rice. In this situation, the regional food regulators have been directed to instruct the concerned district food regulators to take necessary steps to confiscate the collateral of defaulted (failed supply) boiled and unpaved rice mills as per the contract executed under internal procurement.