The government has decided to purchase 27,000 metric tonnes of paddy and rice from Chandpur this Boro season, an Official in charge of the Chandpur District Food Controller’s Office said on Wednesday.
“The government will procure 8,357 metric tonnes of paddy, 7,495 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 1,617 metric tonnes of atap rice from 8 upazila of Chandpur”, the official said.
The government has taken this step to strengthen the food security of the country.According to sources, the government has set a target of buying rice at Tk 36 per kg, atap rice at Tk 35 and paddy at Tk 26 per kg. The rice will be procured from the mill owners approved by the District Food Controller’s Office and paddy will be procured by the concerned respective Upazila committees.
The procurement drive will start soon after the agreement is signed with the approved mill owners and will continue till August 31. There are also instructions for emergency stocking of rice. A maximum of 3 metric tonnes of rice can be purchased from a listed farmer.
From May 2020 this year, dealers will procure rice, paddy and wheat from the farmers approved by the concerned Food Controller’s Office who are listed in the Agriculture Department and have agricultural assistance cards and are approved by their respective Upazila Food Committees.
According to Chandpur District Food Department 744 metric tonnes of paddy, 3,528 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 168 metric tonnes of atap rice from Chandpur Sadar; 86 metric tonnes of paddy from Haimchar, 43 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 15 metric tonnes of atap rice from Hajiganj; 1,289 metric tonnes of paddy, 648 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 231 metric tonnes of atap rice from Faridganj; 1,360 metric tonnes of paddy, 683 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 243 metric tonnes of atap rice, 1,297 metric tonnes of paddy from Shahrashti; 683 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 319 metric tonnes of atap rice, 1,680 metric tonnes of paddy from Kachua; 928 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 301 metric tonnes of atap rice from North Matlab; 1,257 metric tonnes of paddy from the north; 647 metric tonnes of parboiled rice and 225 metric tonnes of atap rice and 644 metric tonnes of paddy from Matlab south.
Irri-Boro production target in Chandpur for the fiscal year 2019-2020 is 263,200 metric tonnes. More or less all the upazilas cultivate rice during Irri-Boro season. An official of the Department of Agriculture said that the target of cultivation of hybrid, local and improved yielding varieties of Irri-Boro paddy has been achieved and bumper production is being expected.
According to the Agriculture Extension Department, the target for cultivation and production in 62,000 hectares of land in Chandpur this year is 263,200 metric tonnes of rice.
An official of the Chandpur District Food Control Office said, “According to official estimates, the deadline for purchasing rice is August 31.” Until then, the millers will be able to collect paddy and rice and supply it to the district food department.
“As per the government directive, the district administration and upazila administration will allocate the rice and wheat through GR, TR, VGT, VGF at Tk 10 per kg in case of emergency and VJF for Jatka conservation which is distributed by the people’s representatives of their respective union parishads.”
The government has decided to buy 18 lakh and 25 thousand metric tonnes of food grains in the current boro season. Of this, 75,000 metric tonnes of wheat, 6 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, 10 lakh metric tonnes of rice and 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of boro atap rice will be procured. Of this, the government will procure 6 lakh metric tonnes of paddy directly from farmers. The food ministry has already fixed the prices of wheat, rice and paddy.
According to the deadline set by the Ministry of Food for the purchase of these crops, wheat will be available from April 15 to June 30, 6 lakh metric tonnes of boro paddy from April 26 to August 31, parboiled and 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of boro atap rice from 7 May to 31 August.
