Four lakh tonnes of rice import allowed to cool price of the staple food

Ninety-five food companies have got permission to import a total of 409,000 tonnes of rice as the government tries to lower the prices of staple grain by increasing supply. The firms were asked to bring in the rice by August 11. The companies will have to let the district food offices know how much rice they will import, how much they will sell, and how much they will store.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) earlier cut the duty on rice imported between June 22 and October 31 to 25.75 per cent from 62.5 per cent. The NBR attached a condition that importers have permission from the food ministry for every shipment. At kitchen markets in the capital, a kg of fine rice is sold for between Tk 64 and Tk 80. The prices have risen by 9 percent in a month. Prices of coarse rice remained unchanged in the last month. Farmers bagged 1.79 crore tonnes of rice in the first two crop seasons — Aush and Aman — of this fiscal year. The Department of Agricultural Extension estimates that the total yield from the Boro season would be 2.09 crore tonnes of rice this year. Rice mill owners maintain that flood and unfavourable weather in the northeast and parts of northwest have affected rice yields.
Due to climate change, saltwater intrusion poses a considerable problem for rice cultivation in Bangladesh’s coastal belts. Thousands of hectares of land have become barren in coastal Bangladesh because of salinity. With a booming population increasing the demand for the staple food, there have also been growing calls for a salt-tolerant variety for the salinity-prone areas of Bangladesh.
Amid the floods that hit the country’s northern and northeastern districts, rice production falls short of demand. Despite this, the authority should keep its eye to make a balance between demand and supply as excessive stock will lower the procurement price from farmers. As rice is the main staple, the government should also keep constant watch over the production, supply and price.