The Bangladesh government has decided to buy paddy directly from farmers this time.

Last year, government procurement of paddy and rice through rice mill owners drew widespread criticism.

Now, in the aman season, 6 lakh tonnes of paddy will be bought at Tk 26 a kg from 20 November.

Roushan Ara Begum, a farmer in a remote village in the northern district of Kurigram, had to take charge of the household with three children after her husband died suddenly.

Last year she grew paddy on four bighas of land but could not recover her costs. Because the rice mill owners did not take paddy, she sold it at a much lower price.

She is pleased at the news that the government will now buy paddy directly from farmers.

But this Kurigram farmer has many questions: what the process will be, how transparent it will be, how much farmers will actually gain and whether their production costs will be covered.

The government says there are complaints every year that farmers lose out because of rice mill owners, which is why it has now decided to buy paddy from farmers instead of rice.

Last year the government bought 8 lakh tonnes of rice from rice mill owners, who in turn bought paddy from farmers.

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.