Arrivals of new Aman paddy have risen at the wholesale depots of Bhairab upazila in Kishoreganj, but traders who have brought paddy to sell say there is a shortage of buyers.

Favourable weather this year has produced a bumper Aman crop. Local wholesalers are buying new paddy from farmers in the haor areas and bringing it to the Bhairab depots to sell.

At midday on 14 December, at the jetty on the riverbank at Bhairab Bazar, thousands of sacks of new Aman paddy were stacked in piles along the ghat. Labourers and depot owners were busy weighing the paddy and packing it into sacks.

Local depot owners said the varieties arriving in the greatest quantities this year are 22, 49 and 39. Fine paddy is selling at Tk 1,120–1,140 a maund and coarse paddy at Tk 850–860 a maund. The paddy is bought from farmers in Ajmiriganj in Habiganj and in Itna and Mithamain in Kishoreganj, and brought to Bhairab by boat.

Taj Uddin, a trader from Ajmiriganj, came to Bhairab with 1,000 sacks of Aman paddy. He said farmers sell their paddy once they have harvested it, and he had collected this paddy from haor farmers to sell at the Bhairab depots.

Taj Uddin said mill owners are not buying because the government price has not yet been set. They say they will buy new paddy once the price is fixed.

Mahbub, owner of the Haji Abdus Sattar Mia and Sons depot at Bhairab Bazar, said there is a large supply of Aman paddy this year, but the government has not yet set the Aman price, which is why buyers are few. Buyers will increase once the government fixes the price, he said.

He said varieties 22 and 49 are currently trading at Tk 1,110–1,120 a maund for wet paddy and Tk 1,150–1,160 a maund for dry paddy.

Nazrul Islam, an employee of the Messrs Abdullah Enterprise depot, said the Aman harvest has begun in the haor, so arrivals at the depots have risen. Because prices are good, farmers are selling their paddy fresh rather than storing it.

Bhairab Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Sadiqur Rahman Sabuj said Aman paddy from the haor region is arriving at the Bhairab depots and the administration is keeping watch so that wholesalers can sell what they have collected at a fair price. The government has not yet fixed the Aman price, he said, but it will do so very soon.

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