Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has said the government will buy 6 lakh tonnes of aman paddy directly from farmers at Tk 26 a kg from 20 November.

The minister made the announcement after a meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee at the Secretariat on Thursday (31 October).

"Through millers, 3 lakh 50 thousand tonnes of boiled rice will be bought at Tk 36 a kg and 50,000 tonnes of atap (sun-dried) rice at Tk 35 a kg," he said.

"Aman paddy will be bought from farmers from 20 November to 28 February. The government will buy boiled and atap rice from 1 December to 28 February," he added.

"Local administrations will send lists of genuine farmers from the unions by 10 November. If there are more farmers on the lists than needed, purchases will be made by lottery," the food minister said.

"On the occasion of Mujib Barsho, the Food Friendly Programme has been extended from five months to seven. Village police will be brought under it and will get rice at Tk 10 a kg. A proposal for fishermen has also been sent to the Finance Ministry; if approved, fishermen will be brought under the programme," he said.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque and the secretaries concerned attended the meeting, which was chaired by the food minister.

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.