Boro procurement set to fall short of target

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The food department has unofficially stopped Boro procurement short of target in 16 northern districts of the country due to short supply and unpredictable weather.

Officials concerned think they could fail to achieve procurement target if the government does not start importing rice and open market sale (OMS) soon.

A senior official of the department said only 13,640 tonnes of Boro has been purchased between April 28 and June 28 in the area against a target of 1,03,000 tonnes.

Food officials told The Daily Star yesterday that only 670 tonnes of Boro has been purchased in the food-surplus district of Bogra against a target of 12,263 tonnes.

Department of Agriculture (DAE), Bogra officials said Boro production achieved 12,21,680 tonnes in the district against a target of 11,52,460 tonnes this year, registering 8 percent rise.

They said they usually get 5 percent yearly increase of Boro production in the 16 northern districts.

Officials concerned said the government started rice procurement on April 28 with a target to procure 8,02,391 tonnes of husked rice from the northern districts in four months. Around 66 lakh tonnes of husked Boro rice was produced against a target of 60,57,482 tonnes in the 16 districts.

The government has so far achieved around 50 percent of its husked rice procurement target with 4,05,023 tonnes.

Food and DAE officials apprehend that boro rice procurement is likely to fail if the government fails to start OMS soon in highly-populated areas of the northern part of the country as well as importing rice.

A senior official of the food department said the achievement of rice procurement target now depends on the government’s decision to import as hoarding of rice continues at grower and rice-mill levels.

The official further added that 8,259 mills may not be able to supply rice to the government according to contract due to inclement weather and short supply of rice.

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