Food procurement drive too slow

Deal with millers yet to be signed
The procurement of rice and paddy would not be completed during this season, as the food ministry as well as food department is yet to sign agreement with millers, said a source at the ministry.
“The government had started countrywide procurement drive through local millers from May 1 and fixed the price Tk 22 for rice and Tk 14 for paddy per kg,” the source said.
Defying the government direction, the food directorate and the ministry concerned delayed to make the necessary agreement with rice and paddy suppliers for which the procurement goes slow.
Due to bureaucratic lapses, middlemen have taken the advantages of loopholes and reaped the benefit from the government announcement, experts said.
Some food officials in different districts could not still sign agreement with millers and suppliers for procurement of crops, according to the food ministry.
There is no scope for sale of crops to the government directly and farmers are not interested to go to government godowns with their products, the source added.
The source further said farmers are selling rice and paddy to customers even at less than Tk 200 a maund as the demand is poor in the market.
Farmers are being deprived of the fair price. Even they are not getting the cost of production by selling the crops.
Rice is not being sold at the government-fixed price across the country as mill-owners failed to buy rice from farmers for government formally. Millers alleged that food offices at district levels are yet to sign agreement for procurement of crops.
Besides, middlemen (Faria) bought rice and paddy from farmers on credit and supplied it to the government godowns with profit, while some millers also supplied crops to the godowns directly in an unholy nexus the food officers without any documents, it is alleged.
The food ministry source said the government procured only 2,000 metric tonnes of paddy and 1,661 metric tonnes of rice till Wednesday.
The food department has signed agreement with millers for 38,000 metric tonnes of rice so far. Dhaka Division procured greater quality than other divisions did. Farmers are upset over the slow procurement drive. Director General of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Sayeed Ali said: “We want to give fair price to our farmers, as they produce crops with hard labour and much capital investment.”
An official of food directorate said that the government could not buy crops from farmers by cash.
So, the farmers are selling their crops to others, he added.
Meanwhile, the food department has taken steps to buy crops from farmers directly by cash to remove the bottlenecks.

Courtesy of The News Today