Good wheat yield fails to bring boons for farmers

Kazi Azizul Islam

The country's wheat production has been good this year.

Although farmers are happy with the increased yield yet wheat price continues to remain low as its global price has marked as a fall, market watchers said.

Wheat harvest, which is set to complete soon, so far has been very good, said traders and agriculture officials.

'Wheat harvest is very good this year. The farmers are telling about increased yields and quality grains,' said Abul Hashem, a trader at Jaduranir Haat in north Thakurgaon. Northern districts – mainly Thakurgaon, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Panchagarh – account for the major portion of the country's wheat production.

At Jaduranir Haat, the newly harvested half-dried wheat was traded on Monday for Tk 19 to Tk 20 per kilogram or Tk 710 to Tk 740 a maund (37.3 kg), same as that in the corresponding period of the last year. Besides, the price also has not marked any increase since the new stock wheat hit the market three weeks back, market sources said.

An ample supply of wheat to the market by importers and the government stocks are keeping the price of newly harvested local wheat low, said Narayanganj Flour Mills Association president Shiekh Wazed Ali.

Wazed said, 'Importers have sizeable stocks of wheat and are desperate to release the stocks as the wheat price has declined significantly on the international market in the past few months.'

'Wheat delivered from the government stocks to different social safety net, food for work and development programmes are also coming to the market, which also is keeping the price low,' he added.

In Narayanganj on Monday, the price of new stock local wheat in bulk trade ranged between Tk 750 and Tk 800 per maund depending on quality, including level of moisture content. Locally produced wheat is rated in the market as a medium grade one.

On Monday, imported old stock of inferior grade Black Sea wheat was selling in Narayanganj for Tk 770 to Tk 780 per maund and fine wheat from Australia and Canada for Tk 950 to Tk 970.

Flour millers in Narayanganj admitted that, following the recent decline in wheat price on the international market, the price of imported wheat, depending on the grades, had declined by Tk 100 to Tk 250 per maund.

Bangladesh has to import two to four million tonnes of wheat a year, spending several hundred millions of dollar. So, the market players predict that a good domestic wheat harvest this year will help keep its price low, bringing some respite for the consumers.

A senior official at the Field Service Wing of the Department of Agriculture Extension told New Age on Monday that their reports also indicated that wheat output might increase this year significantly.

'Favourable weather was a key reason for this year's good harvest. Besides, farmers also had paid much attention to their crop as wheat price was very high last year,' he said.

According to the DAE data, this year wheat has been cultivated in 400,000 hectares of land with the output estimated at 950,000 tonne. But importers and big wheat traders, who keenly watch local production and market trends, estimate that the wheat output this year will be more than one million tonne.

Source: New Age