Farmers in Shayestaganj upazila of Habiganj have brought in a good Aus rice crop this season but are dismayed by the price. Aus paddy is currently selling at Tk 700 to 800 a maund, and growers say that with no public procurement of Aus and with seasonal traders and middlemen dominating the market, they cannot even recover what they spent to grow it.

Input prices of every kind have risen, the farmers say, while the market price of paddy has not kept pace. Farmer Amjad said the yield was good but there was no profit in it: the money spent on growing the rice is not coming back from the sale.

As soon as the paddy is harvested, seasonal middlemen become active, the farmers complain. Under pressure to pay for fertiliser, pesticide and labour, and in need of cash, many growers cannot hold their paddy and sell it cheap; the traders then sell it on at a higher price.

Farmer Shahid Mia said growers have no say in the price. Why, he asked, does the government not fix a fair price in line with the cost of production? Incentives and extension advice alone will not encourage farmers, he said; when the government does not buy paddy in the Aus season, the market price falls further.

The growers want effective market monitoring to secure a fair price and a public procurement drive in the Aus season as well, which they say would reduce their dependence on intermediaries.

The upazila agriculture officer said the good Aus yield this year followed government efforts to promote modern techniques and the free distribution of fertiliser and seed, and that the farmers' concern about prices would be passed to higher authorities.

Upazila food officer Rezaur Islam said paddy procurement follows government policy, under which no paddy is bought in the Aus season, and that the food department has no direct role in setting market prices. The report is by Shah Mostafa Kamal from Shayestaganj, Habiganj.

Source: Manab Zamin