Government procurement of aman paddy and rice for the current season will begin on Thursday 23 November. This year 2 lakh tonnes of aman paddy, 4 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice and 1 lakh tonnes of atap (sun-dried) rice will be bought. The programme will run until 28 February next year.

This information came from the Directorate General of Food on Monday 20 November. Earlier, at a meeting, the Food Ministry set this year's government purchase prices for aman: Tk 30 a kg for aman paddy, Tk 44 a kg for parboiled rice and Tk 43 a kg for atap rice.

On Sunday 19 November the Food Ministry also approved the area-wise breakdown of the aman procurement target. Accordingly, the deadline for parboiled rice mill owners to sign rice supply contracts has been set from 23 November to 5 December.

A deposit of Tk 55 and Tk 90 per sack has been set for contracted parboiled rice mill owners to receive empty 30 kg and 50 kg sacks respectively for supplying rice to the warehouses.

The price of rice supplied to the warehouses by contracted parboiled rice mill owners will be paid through the mill owners' own bank accounts, it was stated.

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