Aman procurement for another week

The government has extended Aman procurement across the country for another week to fulfill its target of 0.95-million tonnes.

The directorate general of food (DGoF) has procured 0.76-million tonnes of the grain until February 24 against the target by February 28.

According to the DGoF, the government set a target to buy 0.60-million tonnes of paddy and 0.35-million tonnes of milled rice from November 20 to February 28.

The price of paddy was fixed at Tk 26 a kilogram, 0.3-million tonnes of parboiled rice at Tk 36 and 0.05-million tonnes of white rice or ata at Tk 35.

A DGoF official said food ministry has decided to procure Aman grain until March 05 to attain the target.

He said 0.54-million tonnes of paddy, 0.25-million tonnes of parboiled rice and 20,000 tonnes of ata have been purchased between November 20 and February 24.

When asked, DGoF director-general Sarwar Mahmud said the fixed volume of grain had not been possible to achieve within the deadline (February 28).

"Time has been extended to purchase the remaining 0.24-million tonnes within the next one week," he added.

Mr. Mahmud said they have procured an all-time high of 1.4-million tonnes of rice in the last Boro season.

There is nothing to worry about rice supply as the government has a stock of 1.45-million tonnes of the staple, he assured.

Mr. Mahmud, the government has distributed 1.1-million tonnes of rice during the July-February period of the current fiscal year, 2019-2020.

"Production side is also showing a good trend as we're expecting a staggering 14.5-million tonnes of rice output in Aman season," he concluded.