Tricks over rice

Special Correspondent: After oil, onion and sugar, instability has started in the rice market. The price of all types of rice has gone up by Tk 4-5 per kg on weekends. Talking to mill owners, wholesalers and retailers and representatives of various consumer companies, some of the reasons for the rise in rice prices during the busy season have come up.
Notable among these are the labor crisis, the loss of paddy in various districts due to floods, and the loss of paddy and rice in millers’ warehouses in rain and flood waters; There are several reasons including increase in rice price and transportation cost.
Haji Mohammad, general secretary of Kawran Bazar Kitchen Market in the capital, about the instability in the market by increasing the price of rice. Lokman Hossain said that the occupation of a few capitalist companies is not just rice; They are controlling daily commodities like oil, onion, sugar, flour. The owners can’t match their money.
These companies unite to control the market. Import, production, marketing, pricing – everything is decided by these companies sitting down. By ‘managing the upper house’, they increase the price whenever they want. In a short time, he earned Taka thousands of crores,creates instability in the market. The business leader also said that they even sit and watch the fun for their own benefit.
Talking to wholesalers, retailers and mill owners in Kawran Bazar, it was learned that most of the country’s rice supply comes from Kushtia, Chapai, Naogaon and Ashuganj areas. Thick rice comes from Sherpur in Bogra. Daily Industry has talked to some mill owners in these areas. They said that in many lands of the country cultivation is not done thrice a year.
It has a significant impact on the rice market due to lack of inputs for cultivation, problems in irrigation system, crop failure due to heavy rains and droughts and labor crisis in working on timely crop lands.
Mizanur Rahman, manager of Chapai Haque Auto Rice Mill, said that due to heavy rains and drought, crop loss is taking place every year.
We can buy as much paddy directly from farmers; More than that, different companies are buying paddy through middlemen. They are buying paddy at a higher price because our quantity is less than their money. Again, they are selling rice from that paddy in the market like themselves.
Sagar, the proprietor of Sagar Auto Rice Mill in Chapai, said, “We have lost hundreds of tons of paddy and rice in the recent rains and floods.” There are not enough workers to work in the attic these days. Due to the flood waters in different areas, these workers are being taken to cut paddy with higher wages. So, we are not able to supply from the rice mill as per the demand. As a result, the price of rice has gone up in the market.
Mubarak, chairman of the MB Rice Mill in Ashuganj, Brahmanbaria, said big companies bought a large portion of the paddy produced by farmers. We can’t buy with the money they buy. Later, they control the market by selling rice at their own prices.
‘Many people no longer cultivate their land. The man who gave the sharing is also not found now. Whose family members are working abroad. Families are spending their days in the country with the money they send. They are no longer cultivating with difficulty. They have to cultivate their own land compulsorily. Otherwise, the government will have to take control of the land and cultivate three crops a year,”said Belayet Hossain of City Rice Mill.
He also said that if the government provides fertilizers or seeds at a fair price to the farmers for irrigation, cutting and threshing of paddy in easy installments and at low cost, they will be encouraged to cultivate their land. We have to make arrangements to buy paddy directly from the government. So that the farmer gets a fair price for his paddy. In order to prevent the companies from buying paddy at arbitrary prices, it is necessary to set a maximum price and strictly monitor the market.
Meanwhile, after visiting the market, talking to rice traders, another source said that there has been no supply of Nazirshail rice in the market for the last one week. Due to which one kg of Nazir is now being sold at Tk 70 to Tk 80. Pajamas of Tk 42 a week ago are being sold at Tk 48 per kg. Atash rice of Tk 52 per kg is priced at Tk 56 yesterday. Rice is being sold at Tk 84 per minute, up from Tk 60.
Mill owners and rice traders also said that rice prices could rise further in the coming days if there is no strict market monitoring, flood situation or continuous rains.