Government procurement still elusive this Aman season

The government is failing to make significant headway in procuring paddy and rice in the ongoing Aman season as the full-fledged collection still remains elusive even after 10 days of launching the campaign.

Some 100 millers, so far, have signed contracts with the government to supply rice, according to officials at the food ministry.

Even after the beginning of the procurement campaign, the millers are yet to start the supply to the government godowns, the officials added.

It would take 10-15 more days to begin the full-scale collection, as millers might need additional time to collect the paddy from farmers, they stated.

The government is set to procure 3,00,000 tonnes of paddy from farmers through the Krishoker App, a tech tool, at Tk 28 per kilogram set for this season. 

Besides, the government would also collect five lakh tonnes of rice from millers at Tk 42 per kilogram.

Starting from November 17, the procurement campaign would continue until February next year.

The government had procured paddy at Tk 27 per kilogram and rice at Tk 40 per kilogram during the last Aman season.

The Directorate General of Food has issued 13 directives to arrange the paddy procurement campaigns in 272 upazilas across the country as the government decided to conduct the procurement through the Krishoker App this season.

The rice millers, as per the directives, would be allowed to sign a contract with the government until December 7 to supply the rice.

The regional food controllers in Dhaka, Khulna, Rangpur, Chattogram, Sylhet, Barishal, Rajshahi, and Mymensingh divisions were recently sent the directives by the directorate.

According to sources at the food ministry, the government could collect only two tonnes of paddy and 387 tonnes of rice till 24 November this Amon season. 

Md Raihanul Kabir, director of the procurement division at the Directorate General of Food told The Business Post‍ that Rice harvesting has not yet begun in many areas. So, it would take 10-15 days more to start the full-fledged procurement process. 

“We have started the collection campaign a little bit earlier so that farmers can get good prices,” Raihanul Kabir said adding that the millers would also start to supply the rice within the next few days.

As many as 100 mill owners, so far, signed agreements with the government to supply 10-12 thousand tonnes of rice, according to this official.

The government collects paddy and rice every year to ensure that the grassroots farmers get fair prices and conduct open market sale (OMS) operations to sell food at cheaper prices among the marginalised quarter of the population. 

Moreover, the government’s rice stocks also play an important role to keep rice prices stable in retail markets. 

Before 2019, the government used to procure rice only during the Aman season. 

Since then, the paddy is also being collected for the well-being of the small farmers.

The paddy collection, however, failed miserably last year with 72 per cent of the collection target remaining unrealised.

The government had a target of procuring three lakh tonnes of paddy in the last Amon season, according to the food ministry’s data.

Moreover, 7.12 lakh tonnes of rice was collected last year against the target of 7.2 lakh tonnes, meaning that up to 99 per cent of the rice procurement target was fulfilled.