New stock of boro starts arriving in Bangladesh

Kazi Azizul Islam

New stock of Boro rice has started arriving in the market and farmers are reportedly getting good prices.

However, market men say that since the Boro harvest has been better than usual this year the volume of arrivals is bound to increase within the next few days and the prices that the farmers receive will begin to fall.

Several boats laden with just harvested

Boro paddy arrived at Dhaner Gola mokam (local trading station) at Ashuganj in Brahmanbaria district in the last two days, workers told New Age.

On Saturday at Dhaner Gola, kutcha or not-yet-dried paddy of the BIRI-28 variety was sold for Tk 620 to Tk 650 per maund (37.3 kilogram).

Abdul Jalil, a broker at Dhaner Gola, told New Age that prices are likely to start falling next week when the volume of arrivals increases significantly.

Ashuganj's Dhaner Gola, located on the bank of the Meghna River, gets the first lot of paddy harvested early every year. New stocks come from the low-lying haors of Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj, Netrokona and Sunamganj districts.

Traditionally the Boro paddy is planted early in hoars as often the cross-border flash floods or heavy summer rains and the resultant inundation damage crops.

Last year Boro fields in the haors were flooded by downstream flash floods.

Thus arrivals of new stocks of paddy last year took place earlier as farmers were compelled to cut the half-ripe paddy because of the flood.

Prices of new stocks of paddy were between Tk 620 and Tk 630 per maund in this period last year.

Widespread harvesting of Boro, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country's rice output, starts after mid-April and continues till the end of June.

Decline in Boro production last year, because of damage to haor crops and comparatively low yields in many other major rice-producing districts, resulted in a sharp and continuous rise of rice prices after the last Boro season.

The government claimed that the production target of 1.85 crore tonnes of Boro rice was achieved in the last 2009-10 fiscal year, but agro-economists and market people said that production loss was 5 to 10 lakh tonnes. Extensive damage to crops in haors and lower yields in many areas of the country last year caused a decline in output.

The government targeted cultivation of Boro on 47.20 lakh hectares but its revised estimate shows that the planted area increased to 49 lakh hectares. Boro output is estimated at 1.86 crore tonnes for the current 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Official at the agriculture ministry said that they had received reports on the good condition of the standing Boro crop across the country, and they hope for a bumper harvest if nothing untoward takes place.

Source: New Age