There is a serious shortage of storage space in the district’s government provided warehouse where Boro harvest is kept. This has farmers and the millers deeply worried.
Sources at the district food controller’s office said the authorities have set a target to purchase 38,553 tonnes of Boro paddy and 2,832 tonnes of rice in the current season.
The government has fixed Tk20 and Tk31 for each kilogram of paddy and rice respectively as per official procurement rates.
Farmers can directly sell their produce to the government’s food warehouses while the authorities will procure rice from millers during the procurement drive.
To attain the target of food crop procurement, the food officials concerned have already made an agreement with 387 rice-mill owners.
The procurement move began on May 17 and it will continue till August 30, reports UNB
Officials concerned said the authorities targeted to purchase 21,568 tonnes of rice and 743 tonnes of paddy from Sadar upazila during the ongoing procurement drive.
However, with the total storage capacity is 7,000 tonnes of food grains, there are 13 government LSD (Local Supply Depot) go-downs in Sadar upazila.
They said there is very little space in the go-downs as they already have previous stocks of 6,000 tonnes of paddy, rice and wheat.
If paddy and rice are collected as per the government’s procurement target, stocks of the go-downs have to be shifted elsewhere three times over.
In the current situation, it will not be possible for the food officials to collect over 2000-2500 tonnes of food grains during the procurement drive if the go-downs are not cleared to make more space.
Talking to the UNB correspondent, general secretary of district Rice Mills’ Owners Association Asaduzzaman Rawshan said the food crops procurement drive is likely to face difficulties due to some limitations in the procurement policy adopted by the government this year.
He further said that rice mill operators making contact with the food department have to supply rice to the government warehouses within 15 days into the procurement drive according to the government policy, adding that food officials cannot procure all rice from millers due to shortage of storage facilities.
He demanded changes in the procurement policy and extension of the supply period for the millers taking into account other local problems including natural disasters.M Asaduzzaman Khan, Preservation and Movement Officer (SMO) of Sherpur LSD go-downs, admitted the fact and said they wrote to higher authorities to shift previous stocks from the go-downs in Sadar upazila elsewhere.
When contacted, district food controller GM Faruk Hossain said due to good quality and higher demand of Sherpur rice, there will be no problem for the authorities in shifting stocks of rice to other districts from Sherpur.
He hoped that the higher authorities will take steps to clear the go-downs crammed with previous stocks of food grains and help achieve the target of Boro procurement.
