Growers not getting back production cost
ANM Mohibub Uz Zaman, Dhaka: Paddy farmers across the country have been left to grapple with the bitter reality as the price for their produce has plummeted below the production cost amid bountiful harvests and blockades, casting a negative impact on paddy growing in the long run.
The growers are failing to recover the production cost after selling paddy at a lower price amid a higher input cost this year.
However, the rice price has increased at the retail level during the harvesting period. While the lower paddy price is affecting the farmers badly, the rising rice price is taking a toll on consumers.
Aman is a rain-fed crop, which is also the second-largest rice crop in the country. Severe drought and less rainfall this season forced farmers to depend on irrigation, which increased the input cost. Besides, the price of fertilisers is now all-time high.
Farmers cultivated Aman paddy in various parts of the country while 40% of harvesting has completed.
Aman paddy was selling at Tk900-980 per maund (40kg) at the grower’s end in Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Lakshmipur, Bogura, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and other parts of the country, according to local sources.
The price of Aman paddy was Tk1,200-1,350 per maund in 2022 during the harvesting period in the middle of November.
Last year, the production cost of Aman paddy was Tk25 per kg, which shot up to Tk28 per kg this year, according to sources.
So, paddy is selling at Tk22.5-24.5 per kg at the grower’s end which is Tk3.5-5.5 lower than the production cost.
Farmers are counting huge losses due to the low price of paddy at the grower’s end, casting a negative impact on paddy production in the long run, said agricultural economist Prof ASM Golam Hafiz.
“The farmers are failing to recoup the production cost by selling their paddy while millers and traders are increasing the rice price,” he said.
Mohammad Sohagh, a paddy farmer from Lakshmipur, said newly harvested Aman paddy was selling at Tk900-980 per maund at the grower’s end.
Due to the lower price, he did not sell his paddy as he will not be able to recover the production cost with the rate, he said.
Several farmers across the country said they are growing alternative products after facing losses during the Boro season. They are growing wheat, maize, vegetables and other cash crops rather than Boro paddy.
Meanwhile, the rice price has increased at the retail market during the peak harvesting season, triggering worries for people.
The price of fine quality rice has increased by 3.79% while that of medium quality one by 2.80% and coarse rice by 2% in a month, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
A bulk amount of Aman paddy is being harvested and a huge harvest arrives at the market, which is supposed to lower the rice price.
However, it has not been reflected in the retail price of rice in the capital and elsewhere across the country.
Shahadat Hossain, a farmer from Bogura, said, “We produced Aman paddy with irrigation. Fertiliser and labour costs were high this year. For this, Aman production cost was higher this time compared to the previous year. But the price is lower than the previous year.”
He said millers are not buying paddy in full swing as they have earlier stocks, which forced them to sell paddy at a lower price.
Besides, they are unable to sell paddy for lack of trucks due to ongoing blockades and hartals, Shahadat said.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) had set a target to produce 1.72 crore tonnes of rice from 59.335 lakh hectares of land this Aman season.
However, farmers exceeded the acreage this year, which will lead to an increase in the rice production, said the DAE officials.
