The prices of rice have witnessed an unmatched hike in both the wholesale and retail markets across the country in the harvest season, putting low-income people in further hardship.
Consumers have expressed their anger over the unusual hike in rice price amid harvesting while wholesalers termed the price trend of the staple food unprecedented.
Harvest of boro paddy started in mid-April in different parts of the country while flash floods triggered by heavy rain and storm damaged the crop in some areas, especially in the northeast haor region.
Taking advantage of natural calamities, rice millers and traders raised the price of rice during the harvest season, consumers alleged.
‘In my life, I have never seen the rice price getting increased in the harvest season. People rather get the staple at a lower price in this period,’ Saidur Rahman, a security guard of an apartment in the Mohammadpur area in the capital told New Age on Wednesday.
He said that poor people had no option but to pass their days starving.
‘When the price of rice goes up to Tk 70 a kg, soya bean oil Tk 220 a kg and red lentil Tk 120 a kg, how we can maintain our family with a monthly income of Tk 12,000,’ Saidur said.
After skipping fish and beef, now poor people will have to find a way to live without a meal, he said.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, the government set a target of 2,09,51,300 tonnes of boro rice production this year.
The DAE officials said that farmers already harvested 72 per cent of boro paddy and the production might be decreased by only 10,000-15,000 tonnes due to heavy rain and other reason across the country.
Ashikur Rahman, a private job holder living in Badda in the capital, said that it was understandable that prices of some commodities increased in the local market as their prices increased in the international market but there was no reason for the price of rice getting increased now.
‘The government has repeatedly announced that Bangladesh becomes self-sufficient in rice production but we, the fixed income people, are forced to pay an additional price for the staple food in the harvest season,’ he said.
Neither the government nor businesses, no one is bothered about the low-income people, he said.
The coarse variety of the staple was sold for Tk 45–48 a kg while the medium-quality variety of rice was sold for Tk 52–58 a kg in the capital on Wednesday.
The fine-variety Miniket was sold for Tk 68–70 a kg and Najirshail for Tk 75–80 on the day.
Agro economist M Asaduzzaman said that a miss calculation of demand and production might lead to an unusual rice price hike during the harvest season.
‘No doubt, the price hike of rice would create unbearable pressure on poor people amid the soaring prices of other commodities,’ he said.
Asaduzzaman said that the statistics of the two institutions of the government – the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the agriculture ministry – regarding rice production and demand were not the same.
Inappropriate data creates many problems in proper management, he said.
Asaduzzaman said that the government would have to identify why the price of rice had been increasing in the harvesting season.
Nasim Uddin, the proprietor of an auto rice mill namely Rakib Brothers at Naogaon, said that the price of Miniket rice, locally known as Jirashail, increased by Tk 250-300 a bag (50 kilogram) in the past 10 days due to the shortage of paddy in the market.
He said that the recent rain and storm damaged many of the paddy fields in Naogaon and farmers failed to harvest the crop.
Nasim also said that many of the farmers harvested wet paddies from their farms and could not make them dry amid continuous rain.
‘After milling one maund wet paddy we are getting 18-20 kg of rice while millers get 22-23 kg of rice from a maund of dried paddy,’ Nasim said.
He said that the price of fine quality Miniket paddy increased to Tk 1200-1300 a maund, which was Tk 1000-1100 in the past year.
Nasim said that a bag of Miniket rice was sold for Tk 2600-2900 in the wholesale market of Naogaon which was Tk 2300-2500 a bag 10 days ago.
Syed Manirul Islam, proprietor of Barishal Rice Agency at Mohammadpur Krishi Bazar, said that the price of medium quality variety of rice increased by Tk 4-5 a kg while the fine variety of rice increased by Tk 10 a kilogram in the wholesale market over the week.
‘It is unbelievable. I have never seen such a high jump in the price of rice in the harvesting season,’ he said.
Manirul said that rice mill owners were not providing rice even after 10-12 days of receiving orders from wholesalers.
He said that the wholesale price of Miniket increased to Tk 61-63 a kg while the price of the premium quality variety of Najirshail increased to Tk 75-80 a kg.
One week before, the wholesale price of Miniket was Tk 55-67 a kg while the price of premium quality Najirshail variety was Tk 65-70 a kg, Manirul added.
Food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said that the price of rice increased due to a conjuncture of off-season and harvesting season and heavy rain.
‘Auto rice mill owners are yet to start production as they are now procuring paddy. Nothing to be worried about, the price of rice will come down soon,’ the minister told reporters at his office on Wednesday.
Sadhan Chandra said there was no fear of a food crisis in the country.
New Age staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that the prices of different varieties of rice increased by up to Tk 6 a kilogram in Naogaon district in the past week.
Traders claimed that the prices of the rice started rising amid the harvesting of boro paddy across the region due to stormy weather.
According to the traders and mill owners, the price of different varieties of rice in the local market increased from Tk 100 to 150 per quintal.
Uttam Sarkar, president of Naogaon Municipal Retail Rice Market Association, told New Age that they had to buy rice from mills at higher prices.
‘The prices of rice have increased by Tk 200 to 250 a sack. Therefore, the price has also increased in the retail market. We have nothing to do’, he said.
Contacted, Farhad Hossain Chakdar, general secretary of Naogaon District Rice Mill Owners’ Association, said that a good amount of boro paddy was damaged due to hostile weather this season.
‘As the paddy production is expected to be 25 to 30 per cent less than the target, traders launched a competition of buying and stocking paddy, resulting in the price increase in the local market’, he said.
Chakdar hoped that the prices would come down with the peaking of harvesting in the northern region.
According to the District Agriculture Extension Department, farmers cultivated boro paddy on 1, 69, 490 hectares of land in Naogaon this season.
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