Media reports, quoting Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), say the production of rice in the country will exceed four crore tonnes this year, which is at least forty lakh tonnes more than the country’s demand. So, there’s no need for rice imports.
However, this additional production is not necessarily reassuring. It would not be able to reassure the consumers about the price of rice and that is the question. Along with the increase in the production of rice, its demand has also increased as well. Meanwhile, the production cost has also increased. For failing to provide uninterrupted electricity during the current Boro season, the farmers are to buy fuel at a high price for irrigation.
According to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Boro paddy has been cultivated on 49 lakh hectares of land in Bangladesh this year which is 50,000 hectares more than the previous year. It can be assumed that the rice production would increase by 5 lakh tonnes from this.
One of the key weaknesses of the government’s assistance policy is the failure to achieve the rice and paddy procurement targets. If the paddy and rice procurement targets are met, on one hand the farmers will get a fair price for the grain while food security will be consolidated on the other. Failure to do so would result in the benefits being devoured by mill owners and dealers.
When the price of rice is low the farmers get deprived and when the price is high it increases pressure on low income people. According to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) research, the ultra-poor spend 32 per cent of their earnings to buy rice while the poor spend 29 per cent.
To stabilise the price, the government has to meet the paddy and rice procurement targets as well as increase supply in the market in alternative ways so that low income people can buy rice for a lower price. At present, the amount of rice sold in the open market through TCB is so small that a large chunk of the poor community is left out.
Sometimes, there are inconsistencies in the records of paddy and rice reserves. Different agencies provide different statistics. Coordination among the concerned ministries is required to solve this problem. The main point is the government has to take effective and sustainable steps to protect the interests of both the producers and the consumers.
