Production cost of rice and wheat in the current Rabi season increased due to higher input prices, agriculture ministry said. The government would take this into account while fixing the procurement prices for boro paddy, rice and wheat, said officials. The growers will not get fair prices unless the government buys directly from them taking the increased cost of production into account, said farmers’ leaders.
The government always buys rice from the millers, they complained.
They asked the government to buy wheat and un-husked rice directly from the growers at the peak harvest time.
They asked the government to follow this arrangement if it wanted to ensure fair prices to the growers.
Agriculture ministry estimates show that production cost of paddy increased to Tk 17.50 per kg from Tk 16.96 in the Rabi season of last year.
The official estimates show that the production of rice per kg increased to Tk 26.50 from Tk 26 last year.
It shows that the production cost of wheat increased to Tk 24 per kg from last year’s Tk 21.
Delayed supply of fertilizers, diesel nd other inputs to the growers increased the production cost of rice and wheat in the current season, officials and agriculturists told New Age.
They attributed it to mainly transport crisis stemming from hartals and blockades in December and January.
Taking advantage of supply shortage, local dealers in the northern districts charged Tk five to Tk 10 more per kg of urea and non-urea fertilizers, they said.
Harun-ur- Rashid, a farmers’ leader at Ambikapur, Faridpur told New Age that the government should ensure adequate supply of electricity and diesel for irrigation from mid March to mid April when the plants mature and get ready to generate tender rice.
He urged the government to fix rice and wheat procurement prices taking into account the increased production costs to ensure fair prices to the farmers.
The government must buy rice and wheat directly from the farmers by opening procurement centres at every union, said Bangladesh Krishok Samity general secretary Sajjad Zahir Chandan.
He urged the government to buy rice and paddy in equal quantities to provide equal benefits to the growers and the millers.
DAE field officials said that the growers completed rice and wheat cultivation this season in a satisfactory manner.
They said that both the crops would be ready for harvest in mid April.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, last year the country got 1,87,78,154 tonnes of boro rice, the largest rice harvest ever.
BBS statics also show that last year the country harvested 12,54,778 tonnes of wheat.
Agriculturists said that sown in winter the Rabi crop is harvested in the spring in other words the crops are grown between mid November to April, Rabi crops need irrigation, Rabi is Arabic word for spring.
-With New Age input
