Farmers not interested in selling paddy to govt

Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Farmers and millers of Pabna Ishwardi are facing losses while supplying paddy and rice at the rate set by the government. Farmers and millers have expressed reluctance to supply Aman paddy and rice to government food warehouses as government prices are lower than the market. That is why there is apprehension about the success of the government’s Aman collection campaign.
Conscious millers feel that if the government purchase price is increased, the price of rice will increase abnormally in the local market as well. Even if paddy and rice is not collected in the government warehouse from the domestic market, there is no possibility of an abnormal increase in the price in the market. If the government imports whatever deficit there is from abroad, there will be no possibility of famine.
The number of Millers enrolled in Ishwardi is 329. Apart from 17 auto rice mills there are 312 husking mills. Only 27 mills were contracted till 5pm on Thursday (December 8), the last day of contracting. Out of total 575 registered mills in Pabna district only 49 millers have been contracted. District Food Controller Office has confirmed this information.
District Food Controller Tanveer Rahman said that farmers and millers are not interested in supplying rice to warehouses. We waited even after office hours. Hopefully a few more Millers will be signed. Mohammad Mahfuz Al Asad, storage and movement officer of Ishwardi food warehouse said that this time the lowest miller has been contracted to supply rice. All Millers have been given letters to sign, but most are not interested due to losses. In the current season, the target of buying 8 thousand 583 tons of boiled rice and 200 tons of paddy was fixed in the Aman collection campaign in two warehouses of Ishwardi.