Bangladesh Gov't to Face Challenge in Rice Stocking

The Bangladesh caretaker government will face an immense challenge to fulfill its food procurement target by the end of next month, leading English newspaper The Daily Star reported Wednesday.

Shortage of rice and paddy in local markets coupled with rice millers' refusal to supply food grains to the government at rates lower than market prices, is now the main impediment to fulfilling the target.

The government has set a target of procuring 1.2 million tons of rice and 300,000 tons of wheat by the end of next month to build up a safe food bank.

The government made agreements with 13,833 mills across the country for supplying 994,000 tons of food grains by the end of next month. But only 60 percent have reached government warehouses since the procurement drive had begun on April 16.

The drive slowed down as the millers, even after the agreements with the government, have been refusing to supply grains in the wake of further rise in prices following the latest hike in fuel oil prices on July 1.

The government's current rate for procuring rice is 28 taka ( about 41 U.S. cents) one kg while the current market price of a kg of coarse rice is 33 taka (about 41 U.S. cents).

Food ministry officials said the government will not increase the official rate for procurement, but will give incentives to rice millers instead for recovering from their losses.

Food and Disaster Management Ministry Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali recently said rain, inadequate power supply, and stockpiling by households and large farmers as the reasons behind the slide in government procurement.

Source: CRIEnglish