The government has officially extended the deadline for Boro paddy and rice procurement by 15 days for the current season.
The deadline was till August 16 but now it has been extended to August 31. A letter has been sent to the Director General (DG) of the Food Department from the Ministry of Food in this regard on Saturday.
The letter, signed by Sharmin Yasmin, senior assistant secretary of food ministry, said the deadline for procurement of Boro paddy, rice and Atap rice has been extended till August 31 to ensure food security stocks in the country during the Boro procurement in 2021 season.
It further instructed the food department to ensure collection of the remaining amount of paddy and rice within the extended period.
The government aims to procure a total of 1.8 million tonnes of paddy and rice from the farmers and local markets during the current Boro season. Paddy was procured directly from the farmers from April 28 and rice was procured from May 8 this year.
The government is procuring 10 lakh tonnes of rice at Tk 40 per kg, 1.5 lakh tonnes of Atap rice at Tk 39 per kg from millars and six lakh tonnes of paddy at Tk 27 per kg from farmers.
Earlier on Thursday, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder told reporters that 8.5 lakh tonnes of rice had already been collected during the ongoing Boro procurement drive. At this moment, the government’s rice stock is around 17 lakh tonnes, the food minister further said.
