& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Govt moves to contain rice prices

Star Business Report
The government will shortly intervene in the market to dampen rising rice prices and make the item more affordable for the poor, said Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque yesterday.
The government released about 2 lakh tonnes of food grains, mainly rice, from its stock under die Food for Works Programme, while other intervention measures are underway.
"We have a stock of 12 lakh tonnes of food grains, mainly rice. We will begin test relief soon. If needed, we will begin open market sale (OMS) to curb market prices," the minister said at a seminar on food price inflation, its impact and response, at LGED.
Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and Concern Worldwide jointly organised the programme, focusing on the impact of rice price hikes on die poor, who largely depend on rice in their diet.
Razzaque made the disclosure as the price of all types of rice is on the upturn, with the coarse variety rice recording the highest increase, according to retail prices data by theTrading Corporation of Bangladesh.
On Saturday, a kilogram of coarse rice was traded 8.51 percent higher at Tk 25-26 from Tk 23-24 a month ago, driven by speculations of a fall in output of rain-fed aman, due to late harvest, drought and pest attacks.
“We are seriously monitoring the market," said Razzaque. “We hope diat prices will decline as we begin intervention."
The minister however blamed the inadequate food grain storage capacity of the
government, which is at 15 lakh tonnes. He said such a capacity makes it difficult for the government to create any significant impact on the rice market.
"We have taken steps to increase the government's food grain storage capacity by 7.5 lakh tonnes," he said.
Razzaque also favoured giving private entrepreneurs incentives such as low cost loans, to establish silos at upazilla and district levels.
"But unless we augment domestic production, we will not be able to ensure food security," said Razzaque.
Looking back at the global rice price hike in 2007 and 2008, former agriculture adviser CS Karim also said domestic production has to be enhanced.
“We cannot keep on depending on the international market. We should go for sustainable food production,” he said, suggesting vertical expansion of production and increased extension services to farmers to reduce the yield gap.
“We can increase rice production by reducing the yield gap. Presently, the average productivity of rice is 3 tonnes a hectare, although the potential yield is more than 5 tonnes a hectare," said Dr Wais Kabir, executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (Bare).
Md Ruhul Amin, director general of Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU), said the government should build capacity to stock 30 lakh tonnes of food grains, to influence the market.
Former commerce adviser to the past caretaker government and PPRC Executive Chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman chaired the programme.