The conflicting scenario of good harvest and bad price is, as though, an essential appendage to the country’s agriculture sector. It is difficult to say when the farmers last smiled in return for their hard toil by way of fair price.
For the last consecutive years, the country has been experiencing good harvest in paddy, but there were grievances among farmers of being denied the right price.
Despite bumper production of Boro paddy in several districts, farmers are frustrated due to its drastic fall of prices in the local markets. Against this backdrop, the farmers of haor districts want optimum price of paddy.
Sacks of paddy are piled in rows at the Ashuganj paddy field in Brahmanbaria near banks of Meghna river. Farmers and paddy sellers from different districts including Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Mymensingh and Netrokona are flocking to this Mokamas the paddy production is good this season.
Every day at least 50 thousand to one lakh mon (40kg) of paddy is being brought to this destination. Despite this bulk paddy production, farmers and paddy sellers say that they are being deprived of a fair price for paddy because of the syndicate.
On contrary, the mill owners claim that the farmers are getting better price of paddy this year as compared to other years.
Farmers are bringing paddy in abundance but frustration is there among farmers and rice sellers over the right price of paddy. Rice seller Shahjahan Miah said, “I have brought one thousand mon of paddy from Kishoreganj by boat.
I am getting a price of five hundred and fifty taka per mon for coarse paddy and for fine paddy I am getting six hundred taka per mon. We are not making profit by selling paddy.”
Santaj Mia, a farmer who brought paddy from Netrokona district, said, "It costs us Tk 8,000 to cultivate paddy in every field." But the price we are getting is nowhere near our profit.”
Farmer Liton Hossain said, "It is not possible to keep on producing crop." I am being forced to sell my land as I planted my crops by borrowing. Now, we are being forced to sell the crop at a low price to repay the moneylender's loan.”
Mokam storekeeper Golap Mia said farmers are getting good prices. There is no syndicate here. Farmers or paddy sellers are selling paddy through open bargaining. Everyday huge amount of paddy comes to this place.
The harvest of paddy has just started as the days will go by, the busyness of Mokam will only increase.
Aartdar Judge Mia said that due to high import of paddy and wet paddy in the month of Baishakh, the paddy sellers are getting a little lower price. When the price of rice goes down, the price of paddy also goes down a bit.”
Brahmanbaria Chatal Owners Association President, Babul Ahmed said that, “The price of paddythis year is a lot more than other years. Earlier, paddy was sold at Tk 300 to Tk 350 per mon. But this year it is being sold at 550 to 600 taka per mon.
However, most of the people who come to sell paddy in this place are traders. They buy the paddy from the farmers at a lower price. In this case, the traders pay less to the farmers.
The farmers sell the paddy to the traders at a lower price in order to meet various costs. If the farmers had brought the paddy directly to Mokam, the farmers would have benefited more.”
He added that even if they buy paddy at the current price, the mill owners will not be able to make a profit. Because at the end of the process 18 to 20 kg of rice can be obtained from per mon of paddy. The price of rice in the current market is two hundred taka less than normal price.
