Keeping in mind the immediate challenges that COVID-19 has posed to the farmers, the government has swung into action by facilitating a special loan incentive of Tk 19,500 crore at only 4 percent interest to the farmers in the agriculture sector.
During this challenging time, a subsidy of Tk 9,000 crore is being implemented in the agriculture sector for rebate of the electricity bill for irrigation, including fertilizer, to ensure a sustainable food system in the country.
Agriculture Minister MdAbdurRazzak came up with these remarks while speaking at anonline press briefing on ‘Boro Paddy Price and Overall Harvesting’ from his secretariat office on Wednesday.
About the paddy price, the minister highlighted the price of Boro paddy and the progress of paddy harvesting across the country as per the information sent by the deputy directors of the Department of Agricultural Extension in 14 regions and districts of the Agriculture Department.
Despite the prevalence of the pandemic, farmers are getting a fair price in selling their paddy. He said that a decision on rice export would be taken later after reviewing the overall production situation of paddy in the country.
About paddy harvesting, he said, that farmers have harvested 100 percent of Boro paddy in haor areas and 47 percent across the country. Some 47,54,447 hectares of land have been brought under the Boro cultivation in the country, he added.
About the price, the minister said, “This year’s paddy price is reasonable which makes the farmers happy, but this will make limited income people suffer if the price of rice and paddy is increased. To avoid both these crises we want a balanced position so that the farmers become happy by selling paddy and rice in one hand, and the food security of the people with limited income is ensured on the other hand”.
At present, in Haor areas per maund wet paddy is selling at Tk 700 to Tk 750 while dry paddy is Tk 800 to Tk 850 per maund, at Moulvibazar- Habiganj- Sunamganj wet paddy is Tk 650 to Tk 750, dry paddy Tk 750 to Tk 800, and in Netrokona per maund wet paddy is selling at Tk 650 to Tk 680 while dry paddy is Tk800.
The minister also informed that the government would procure 22.25 lakh tonnes of food grains in the current season to ensure food security in the country. Of the total, the government will buy 10 lakh tonnes of paddy, 10 lakh tonnesof rice, 1.5 lakh tonnesof Atap rice and 75,000 tonnes of wheat.
Agriculture ministry senior secretary MdNasiruzzaman said, "We are looking forward to making the distribution system online-based. In this regard, we have already discussed with the ICT division. Farmers will bring their produces to a certain place, based on the online demand chart, the distribution process will further continue", he added.