The food department bought no paddy at all in seven of Rangpur division's eight districts and only 3 tonnes in Dinajpur, against a 62,344-tonne target, though it beat its rice target.
Chicken prices climbed again in Rangpur's markets within a week, while some vegetables rose, garlic and drumsticks fell, and fish, rice, lentils and oil held steady.
Green chilli, Pakistani chicken and some vegetables rose in Rangpur's markets over the week, with new drumsticks selling at Tk 190-200 a kg.
A poor farmer in Rangpur's Kaunia is asking Tk 12 lakh for Sultan, a 37-maund bull whose diet includes apples and malta.
Vegetable prices are falling in Rangpur, with cucumbers retailing at Tk 15 to 20 a kg while farmers get about Tk 5 a kg at wholesale.
A broiler farmer in Rangpur Sadar says 600 of his chickens died in the heat after the rural electricity office cut his connection over a bill he denies owing.
Shaon, the only tigress at Rangpur zoo, died of old age on Friday night, leaving the zoo with no tiger.
The Teesta has flooded low-lying areas of Pirgachha in Rangpur after all the gates of India's Gajoldoba barrage were opened upstream, and it is still rising at Kaunia point.
