The government's paddy procurement drive is lagging behind this aman season. Officials have therefore been instructed to buy paddy directly from farmers on a "first come, first served" basis, alongside purchases through the app.

The Ministry of Food recently sent a letter to the director general of the Directorate of Food with the instruction.

The letter says the domestic aman procurement for 2022-23 began on 17 November last year with a target of buying three lakh tonnes of paddy directly from farmers to ensure fair prices. By 18 January, however, only 2,086 tonnes of paddy had been procured, far below the target.

In this situation, the letter instructs officials to take the necessary steps to meet the procurement target by buying paddy on a "first come, first served" basis in addition to the farmers' app, so that the drive succeeds and farmers get fair prices.

This aman season the target has been set at five lakh tonnes of rice and three lakh tonnes of paddy. Rice is being bought at Tk 42 a kg and paddy at Tk 28 a kg. Aman paddy and rice procurement will continue until 28 February.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.