Govt takes all measures to control rice market: Razzaque

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DHAKA, Dec 27, 2020 (BSS) – Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque today said the government has taken all the necessary measures to control rice market in the country.

“The government has taken all possible initiatives to control the rice market. The import duty on rice has already been reduced to 25 percent,” he told reporters at the conference room of his ministry here.

Apart from government initiatives, Razzaque said, the private sector will also be given the opportunity to import rice.

“Already, the imported rice has started coming to the market… rice is also being sold under OMS programme.”

“There is a small shortage of rice. If we can meet this shortage by rapidly importing rice and increase its supply in the market, the price of rice will come back to normal and low income people will be able to afford it,” he said.

Noting that there will be no problem with food in the country, Razzaque said the government is committed to ensure food security for all.

The minister said this year, several consecutive floods and five months of heavy rains caused damage to Aus and Aman paddy, while in particular, Aman paddy of about 1.05 lakh hectares of land was damaged.

As a result, about 15 to 20 lakh metric tonnes of less paddy was produced than the target, he said.

“So, the price of rice is a little bit higher. Especially at the farmer level. To meet this deficit, the government will import 5 to 6 lakh metric tonnes of rice this year,” Razzaque added.

Earlier, the agriculture minister inaugurated the construction of an agricultural research centre in Gopalganj through videoconferencing from his ministry’s conference room.

Secretary of the ministry Md Mesbahul Islam, additional secretary (administration) Md Arifur Rahman Apu, additional secretary (extension) Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol and senior officials of the ministry, among others, were present.