‘Enough food stock in country’s warehouses’

Staff Reporter :
The government has the capacity to meet the country’s food demand and there is enough food stock in country’s warehouses to feed everyone.
About 18 lakh tonnes of rice is now stocked in government warehouses across the country.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said this while addressing a program in Naogaon on Saturday.
“The government warehouses have doubled the food stock than the normal time. Some 18 lakh tonnes of food grains are stocked now in government warehouses. New Aman yield will be added in next 15 to 20 days. There is no possibility of food shortage in the country,” he said.
The Food Minister also urged the traders to stay alert regarding food shortage rumors and stern action will be taken if anyone found involved in this connection.
He said there are adequate food stock and no food shortage remaining in the nation.
The food that the government has in stock is distributed through various government programmes, including Open Market Sale (OMS), test relief (TR) and food for work schemes (Kabikha), he added.
“We’ll import food if this stock runs out. Bangladesh usually imports from India, but now steps have been taken to import from Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. We’ve obtained clearance from Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. We have offers from Cambodia to import rice from there. We’re looking for more sources in case of rice import,” said Sadhan Chandra Majumder.
The Food Minister said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked all the MPs to stay careful in their constituencies so that farmers yield maximum production in the upcoming season.
To avoid any crisis, Sadhan Chandra Majumder said, they are encouraging farmers to increase their production. However, there are plans to build 200 paddy silos across the country to ensure a fair price for farmers. Approval of construction of 30 paddy silo has already been approved. If these are constructed, marginalised farmers will be able to supply paddy easily.