Jatiya Party (JP) acting Chairman GM Quader has said exporting rice may cause food scarcity in Bangladesh.
“The government should not hurry in taking a decision to export rice at this moment. The government can import rice if necessary but in the world market, rice may not be available at the time of need,” he told the media at the party’s Banani offices in city on Saturday (May 18).
GM Quader said, "Farmers are frustrated because the production cost of paddy is more than the market value. In these circumstances, the government has to buy paddy directly from the farmers instead of millers."
In his written statement, he said: “When a maund of coarse rice is being sold at Tk 500-550, a mound of fine rice is priced at Tk 1,600 to Tk 2,000.
"Farmers are claiming that they have become captive in the hands of middlemen, adding that the government purchases rice from millers, depriving the growers of fair price.”
JP acting chief urged the government to make uses of private warehouses for stocking paddy if it suffers from space constraint in public granaries.
"If necessary, the government should use the services of private storage facilities for emergencies," he said.
In response to a question from a journalist GM Quader said, according to farmers it costs around Tk 700 to Tk 800 to produce a maund of paddy, but they have had to sell the paddy at Tk 400.
Party presidium member Moshiur Rahman Ranga was present at the press conference among others.