The government will buy Boro rice at Tk 31 per kg, raising the procurement price by Tk 2 over the last season.
It will also buy paddy at Tk 20 a kg, Tk 1.50 more than the previous season’s rate.
The paddy will be bought directly from farmers and rice from mill owners.
The government will procure 10 lakh tonnes of rice and 1.5 lakh tonnes of paddy with purchases commencing on May 1 and continuing for the next four months, said Food Minister Qamrul Islam on Thursday.
The prices have been fixed in a way to help farmers reap a profit, he told reporters after a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee.
This year, production cost of per kg of boro paddy was Tk 17.50 and rice Tk 26.50.
Last year, the government had procured rice at Tk 29 per kg and paddy at Tk 18.50 a kg.
An estimated of 1.5 lakh tonnes of wheat will also be procured from farmers at Tk 27 per kg from Apr 1.
The minister hopes the procurement would not make a bad impact on the market.
Islam said the government had set a target of 1.89 crore metric tonnes of Boro production this year, while Aman rice production exceeded target by 75,000 metric tonnes, he said.
Source: UNBConnect
