Govt sets procurement prices of aman paddy, rice and wheat

The government has fixed the procurement prices of aman paddy, rice and wheat for this year.

The paddy procurement price has been set at Tk 27 per kg, boiled rice at Tk 40 per kg and wheat at Tk 28 per kg, respectively.

The decision was taken at a virtual meeting of the food planning and maintenance committee chaired by Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, on Sunday.

The meeting will start the campaign to procure aman paddy and rice from November 7 at the latest prices.

The paddy procurement drive will begin on November 7 while the wheat procurement drive on April 1 in 2022.

Under the programme, three lakh metric tonnes of paddy, five lakh metric tonnes of boiled rice and 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of wheat will be procured.

Besides, the meeting has also decided to purchase 1.5 lakh tonnes of wheat from April 1 next year. In the previous year, the price of aman paddy and rice was Tk 26 and Tk 36, respectively.

Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman, among others, attended the meeting.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said, “The government wants to ensure fair prices for farmers, as well as wants to increase food security stocks”.

Abdur Razzak said food security is being ensured in the country amid diminishing agricultural land and increasing non-human consumption.

“The cultivation of salinity tolerant paddy has already started in the southern part of the country” he said.

He also said efforts are also being made to make paddy production sustainable.