Govt to procure 8.50 lakh tonnes food grains this year

The government will procure a total of 8.50 lakh tonnes food grains this year from the marginal farmers across the country.

The decision came from an online meeting of the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) under the Ministry of Food on Wednesday.

Under the programme, two lakh tonnes paddy and 6.50 lakh tonnes rice—6 lakh tonnes parboiled and the rest 50,000 tonnes Atap rice– will be procured by the government.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the government has set the paddy procurement price at Taka 26 per kg, Taka 37 per kg for parboiled rice and Taka 36 per kg for Atap rice.

The paddy procurement drive will begin on November 7 while the rice procurement will start from November 15, he said.

The procurement will continue till February 28 in 2021.

Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman and different ministry officials, among others, joined the online meeting.