Rice has witnessed a further hike in the past two days, adding woes to the commoners who are already reeling from the skyrocketing trend of most commodities.
Medium and finer varieties like BRRI dhan 28, Jeera, Miniket and Najirshail saw Tk 2.0-3.0 hike per kilo both at milling hubs and city market as sold between Tk 58 and 86 on Sunday.
BRRI-28 sold at Tk 58-60, finer-quality Miniket and Jeera at Tk 68-82, and Najirshail at Tk 68-86 a kg in Dhaka city.
However, coarse rice price remained static at Tk 48-52 a kg in Dhaka and Tk 38-43 at milling hubs, according to the Bangladesh Auto Major and Husking Mill Owners Association of Bangladesh.
Farm economist Prof Dr Mohammad Saidur Rahman cited diesel price hike, import duty as high as 62.5 per cent and scarcity of medium/finer-quality rice in Aman season as key reasons behind this price rises.
He said the 23-per cent diesel price spike has already raised production and transport costs of crops which is being reflected in the market.
As both rice and wheat flour prices are seeing a record high, Dr Rahman suggests the government immediately lower the import duty to give millions of poor people some relief amid Covid-19.
He further suggested stronger monitoring of milling hubs and city wholesale market to prevent any artificial price hike.
Aman lacks medium and finer-quality varieties compared to that of demand as coarse Swarna or similar varieties cover more than 60-per cent land in the season, according to Dr Rahman.
He says development of both Aman and Boro varieties is needed to maintain a sound balance in the value chain taking into account consumer choice and demands.
The prices of rice, however, are showing a hike at a time when global rice prices of 'Indica' species also witnessed a rise in January 2022.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation's all-rice price index witnessed a 3.1-per cent hike in January 2022 than that of December 2021.
But the current price is still 11.3 per cent below its value compared to that of January 2021. Indica rice varieties of India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand were traded at $347 to a maximum of $442 a tonne in January 2022.
Agriculture minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at a programme recently expressed his grief over the continued hike in rice prices despite a record production, good import and a handsome stockpile.
He laid great emphasis on raising production of the staple notably to tackle any kind of volatility in the rice market.
According to food ministry, the government has so far procured 2.0-million tonnes of rice this fiscal year during Boro and Aman seasons.
The government has a stock of 1.74-million tonnes of rice and paddy while private and public entities have so far imported 0.96-million tonnes of rice.
Agriculture ministry is expecting 15-million tonnes of rice from the just-ended Aman season after achieving a record 19.8-million tonnes of output in Boro season.
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