Good move amid myriad challenges
The federal government is taking steps to improve food grain stock and help farmers get fair charges for their produce amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Yet, many fear, this might not exactly benefit all farmers as a result of existing procurement process.
This year the government has decided to acquire eight lakh tonnes of Boro paddy at Tk 26 a kg directly from farmers from April 26 onwards and 11.5 lakh tonnes of milled rice --- 10 lakh tonnes parboiled and 1.5 lakh tons sunburnt --- from millers from May 7.
This past year, the procurement was four lakh tonnes of paddy and 14.09 lakh metric tonnes of rice.
The decision to get more paddy was taken in order that farmers do not face loss in their production in this crisis, said Food Minister Sadhan Kumar Majumder.
"We've already issued a circular [last week] for procurement of six lakh tonnes of paddy and 11.5 lakh tonnes of rice in this Boro season," the minister said.
"But the honourable prime minister has directed us to increase it [the purchase quantity] -- to some other two lakhs tonnes of Boro paddy," he told The Daily Star on Friday.
GOOD CROP YIELD
This year, the federal government targeted Boro production in 48.66 lakh hectares of land but actual cultivation occurred in 47.54 lakh hectares. Average yield of Boro rice is four tonnes per hectare, in line with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
The harvest of Boro, the main crop of the united states, has recently begun in haor areas of Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions. In other regions, it will begin from early May.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Sylhet division, the biggest hub of Boro rice cultivation, is expecting 25,83,115 tonnes of yield from the division alone this season.
Farmers harvesting paddy in haor regions are happy with the current yield.
Bidhan Krishna Sarker, a farmer from Khaliajury upazila in Netrokona cultivated Boro in 20 acres of land.
"I am getting at least 80 to 85 maund (40 kg) of rice per acre. I've not seen such an excellent production in the last few years," said Bidhan on Friday morning, while cutting paddy in his field.
Mozammel Haque of Mendipur village in the upazila told The Daily Star that he sold one maund of paddy at Tk 780 the other day (Tk 19.5 per kg).
"Most farmers in our area have harvested and sold paddy at the rate," he said.
Last year, the price of Boro paddy was below Tk 500 per maund (Tk 12.5 per kg).
WILL FARMERS BENEFIT?
The good yield and the government's decision to increase paddy procurement aren't reassuring for farmers.
They said the government's procurement procedure for selecting rice growers through a lottery system often benefits non-farmers such as for example traders and local political men, rather than small and marginal farmers and sharecroppers.
They alleged that political connection or bribe can often be required to make it to the lottery list.
Besides, farmers often cannot bring the moisture content of their freshly cut paddy below 14 percent as required by the government.
Ali Hossain, a farmer in Chalan Beel area, cannot sell paddy to the government as a result of this rule, despite the fact that he was selected at the lottery.
He said rice traders, mostly owned by the ruling party, own facilities where they can dry paddy according to the government criteria.
They buy identity cards from village farmers selected through the lottery, and supply paddy -- bought at a lesser price from farmers -- to local depots, mostly found in upazilas headquarters, at the bigger rate fixed by the federal government.
"This past year, the traders bought farmers' cards for Tk 4,000 to Tk 6,000 each," he said, adding that the sales proceeds of the cards are the only profit the farmers get.
When farmers harvest paddy, the grains have a moisture level of 18 percent. From then on, regardless if the paddy is dried many times on farmyards with mud surface, the moisture level will not come down below 16 percent, said an upazila food officer.
"If a farmer will not dry his rice on a concrete surface, it isn't possible to lessen the moisture level right down to 14 percent. So marginal farmers have to care for their paddy separately if they would like to sell it to a government depot," he said.
"But farmers tend to be in a hurry to sell their crops. Taking good thing about this, rice mill owners and traders are available paddy to the federal government," said a food directorate official, seeking anonymity.
If the moisture content is greater than 14 percent, the paddy weight would fall by at least 1kg per maund (40kg) after a month, he added.
The discrepancy in the purchase weight would then put the official in charge of the neighborhood supply depot in big trouble, the food official said.
Explaining how the lottery system creates problems in the procurement process, he said sometimes, the lottery generates names of farmers, who do not have rice to market or are not willing to sell.
Even then, the farmers are pursued to market their product due to the system, the food official added.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION?
Farmers opine they might benefit if the federal government buys paddy directly from their website by establishing purchasing centres in large paddy haats.
Asked relating to this, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the federal government would not have the ability to buy paddy from a haat at a rate higher than market price.
The government would need to go by the purchase price set by the market if they buy from haats, he said.
"Also, there is the problem of moisture. If we usually do not maintain the moisture level, the number of paddy will certainly reduce after a couple of days. Also, we have to purchase transporting rice to the neighborhood depot. This is a matter of huge cost," the minister said, questioning who bear the transportation cost.
Quazi Shahabuddin, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, welcomed the government's move to increase paddy procurement saying more farmers will reap the benefits of this.
He, however, urged the federal government to relax the moisture content regulation and accept losing in weight for the existing Boro season.
About buying paddy from haats, Shahabuddin said, it could take the time to eliminate the middlemen involved in the paddy trade.
The federal government has engaged the International Food Policy Research Institute to come up with the most effective means of procuring paddy which will benefit farmers, said Akhter Ahmed, country representative of the research organisation.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
