Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumder on Thursday hoped that rice prices are expected to decrease with the upcoming arrival of Aman paddy in the market.
While talking to media after a coordination meeting on food security and internal rice and paddy procurement drives held at the Directorate General of Food (DG Food) conference room at Abdul Gani Road in Dhaka, he made the prediction.
Ali Imam Majumder said a bumper Aman harvest this year, with collection set to begin on November 17. The government's target is to procure 350,000 tonnes of paddy directly from the farmers, 550,000 tonnes of boiled rice, and an additional 100,000 tonnes of non-boiled rice this season.
The procurement price for rice has been raised from Tk 44 per kg to Tk 47, while paddy will be collected at Tk 33 per kg, up from last year's Tk 30.
The adviser added that 150,000 tonnes of rice and wheat will also be imported this season.
"As Aman paddy enters the market, we can expect rice prices to decline within a short time," he added.
To stabilize the domestic rice market, the government has already removed import duties on rice, which is expected to influence prices further.
The paddy and rice collection from domestic Aman production will continue from November 17 to February 28, 2025, with Atap rice collection running until March 10, 2025, he informed.
Food Secretary Md Masudul Hasan said that despite approval for the import of 1.052 million metric tonnes of rice, letter of credits (LCs) to import only 9,500 metric tonnes have been opened.
