Government misses paddy purchase targets in Sunamganj

The government has failed to reach the paddy purchase target in Sunamganj, despite an extended timeline this year as the farmers of the district refused to sell their paddy to the government.

As the prices offered by the government was not in line with the market price, they opted for selling their crop in the local markets, farmers in the district said.

The government set a schedule from April 28 to August 16 to buy paddy from the farmers of the Sunamganj, said Sunamganj District Food Officer Naqib Saad Saiful Islam.

“Despite extending the schedule to August 31, and decreasing the targeted amount, the farmers were reluctant to sell paddy to us and preferred to sell them at the local markets. As a result, we could only purchase 67 per cent of the paddy in Sunamganj,” said Naqib.

Sunamganj has produced 13, 52,221 tonnes of paddy from 2, 23,330 hectares of land. The food ministry has set a target of purchasing 53, 473 tonnes of paddy – 29,659 tonnes of Boro paddy, 13,837 tonnes of parboiled paddy, and 9,977 tonnes sun-dried (atap) paddy – from Sunamganj.

However, the target could not be met as the Food Department officials could only purchase 17,41o.4 tonnes, which 67 per cent of the total produced boro paddy in the district, they said.

Along with the Boro paddy, 11,671 tonnes of parboiled paddy has been purchased, which is 85 per cent of the total amount, and 9,975.51 tonnes of sun-dried (atap) paddy, which is almost a hundred per cent of the total amount of atap paddy produced in the district, DAE sources said.

Moti Miah, a farmer of Ujangaon village of Shalla upazila of the district, told The Business Post that the authorities concerned had arranged a programme to randomly select farmers via lottery, from whom they would purchase.

However, most farmers did not join the programme, as they were getting good prices from the local market, said Mashiur Rahman, union parishad member of ward 2 of Beheli Union Parishad of Jamalganj upazila.

“These programmes were held last year as well, but the selected farmers could not provide the targeted amount and it was considered a breach of contract. Adding to these problems, the prices were also lower than the market price, that is why farmers were reluctant to participate in the government programme this year,” Moti said.

Each maund of hybrid or coarse variety of paddy is being sold for Tk 950 to Tk 1,200, and new varieties of paddy – BRRI Dhan-48, BRRI Dhan-49 and BRRI Dhan -- is being sold for Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,300, said Asim Das, a farmer from Runarchar village in Kaliakuta Haorpar of Dirai upazila.

“The government has offered Tk 1,080 for the same amount of paddy, excluding of the incurred cost of transportation, delivery and other costs. So why would these farmers be interested in sell their grains to the government, when they can sell their paddy from the comfort of their homes getting far better prices?” he asked.

Sunamganj District Food Officer Naqib Saad Saiful Islam told The Business Post, “We tried our best to attract the farmers to sell their grains to us, but we failed. We managed to buy 67 per cent of the targeted amount, and next year we would try to offer better prices to the farmers.”