Rice cannot be sold under the name Miniket, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has said. The law to stop cheating people by selling rice as Miniket and to curb over-polishing has already received final approval (as a draft) at a cabinet meeting and is now waiting to go to parliament, he said.

He was speaking virtually from Dhaka on Tuesday (11 April) afternoon at a distribution of paddy seed and fertiliser to marginal farmers of Sapahar, Porsha and Niamatpur upazilas of Naogaon under the Aus incentive programme.

The food minister said the country's farmers play the main role in building a happy and prosperous Golden Bengal. If crops are produced in the country, food stocks will be strong and there will be no need to import. This time only 11 lakh tonnes of rice have been imported, which put hoarders in trouble, and the launch of OMS has kept the rice market stable, he said.

Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the government buys fertiliser after calculating how much the country needs each year and how much each crop requires. Even during the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukraine–Russia war, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina kept farm production going by providing funds, buying fertiliser from abroad at higher prices and supplying it at affordable prices with subsidies.

The minister also said some traders are not satisfied with small profits, so executive officers and agriculture officers must stay alert so that no one can commit irregularities with fertiliser, irrigation or pesticides.

Addressing farmers, he said: "We have to keep account of how much Aus, boro and aman will be produced and how much the shortfall will be. So by using the incentive seed and fertiliser given by the government properly, raise Aus production and help ensure food security."

Under the Aus incentive programme 2022–23, fertiliser and seed were distributed to 1,935 farmers in Sapahar, 1,935 in Porsha and 3,510 in Niamatpur. Each farmer received five kg of paddy seed, 10 kg of DAP and 10 kg of MOP.

Chairmen of the three upazilas, upazila executive officers, agriculture officers and beneficiary farmers of the three upazilas attended the event.

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