Bangladesh Krishak Majur Samhati on Thursday demanded the government ensure a fair price of boro paddy for farmers.
Leaders of the organisation raised the demand at a press conference held at its office in the capital Dhaka on the occasion of the release of its field visit report on the boro paddy cultivation costs and selling prices on local markets.
Findings of the report show that paddy cultivation costs in this boro season range between Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,350 per maund while farmers are selling the paddy for Tk 850 to Tk 1,050 per maund.
Krishak Majur Samhati president Dewan Abdur Rashid Nilu said that farmers were not getting fair price in terms of the cultivation costs.
鈥楾he government must ensure fair price for farmers as it is related to the survival of the farmers and the national food security,鈥� said Nilu.
The organisation鈥檚 general secretary, Abdul Alim, said that representatives from Krishak Majur Samhati handed over a memorandum to food ministry adviser Ali Imam Majumder in the morning mentioning eight issues responsible for not getting fair prices and seven recommendations to resolve the issue.
Krishak Majur Samhati joint general secretary Towhidur Rahman said that the government decided to purchase 17.5 lakh tonnes of paddy and rice for Tk 36 a kilogram and Tk 49 a kilogram respectively in this season from April 24 to August 31.
Purchasing boro paddy has not started in all districts yet and there exists doubt over fulfilling the target like previous years, said Towhidur.
The organisation鈥檚 organising secretary Shamsul Alam presented a seven-point recommendation, including creating an integrated database of farmers, holding food officers accountable, increasing loans to farmers, developing rural storage facility, popularising the 鈥楩armer App鈥�, involving army for this year to monitor and launching public-private partnership to ensure fair price of boro paddy for farmers.
