Exporters want ban on aromatic rice to go
May 31, 2009
Exporters demand that the government withdraw a ban on aromatic rice exports. They argue the withdrawal of the restriction will help farmers get fair prices for their produce without derailing the government’s efforts to control rice prices in domestic markets at the same time. But analysts have mixed reactions to the demand. Some favour it. Others want the government to ensure that farmers get prices that are not below the procurement cost of rice and paddy, as was fixed earlier.
“Aromatic rice does not prove to be a competitor to normal, coarse and other fine varieties of rice. Its consumption is low in the domestic market. If we are allowed to export, many farmers would receive a fair price for their produce,” Anjan Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Agro-Processors Association (BAPA), told The Daily Star.
“We don’t expect any negative impact on the price of rice in the domestic market,” he said. “The ban on aromatic rice exports should go.”
His plea came after the government extended the ban on the exports of all types of rice for the next six months, starting May 19 to ensure an increased supply of rice to the domestic market and curb prices, according to a statutory regulatory order (SRO) issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
The restriction was imposed first in May 2008, as the country had to depend on imports to overcome a shortfall in production of rice at a time when food price in the international market was high.
Initially, the ban on exports was not applicable to aromatic rice.
But the scented rice varieties were later brought under the ban when the government extended the restriction in November 2008 for another six months.
Exporters, who usually ship rice to reach mainly migrant workers and non-resident Bangladeshis in the Middle East and Europe, claimed that exports do not affect local market prices as the volume of rice exports hover below 10,000 tonnes a year, with aromatic rice standing below 2,000 tonnes.
Officials at the Plant Protection Wing of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), from where exporters receive quarantine certificates prior to shipment, said the export of aromatic rice grew by eight times to exceed 1,600 tonnes in fiscal 2007-08 from about 200 tonnes a year ago.
“We will also lose market to our competitors in India and Pakistan, if not the ban withdrawn,” the BAPA chief said.
Boro rice production is also expected to exceed the target to produce 1.8 crore tonnes this year. Agriculture officials expect rice production to cross 3 crore tonnes in fiscal 2008-09, surpassing the annual requirement for rice at around 3 crore tonnes.
Consistent good crops have surprisingly deepened farmers’ woes, as they receive prices below their production costs. Rice millers said the price of coarse paddy now hovers between Tk 425 and 460 a mound (40 kilograms).
Noting the low price of paddy at farmer levels, Mahabub Hossain, executive director of Brac, earlier suggested the government withdraw the ban on rice exports to allow its price to rise in local markets, thereby allowing farmers to recover losses.
“The government should also withdraw the ban on rice exports to allow the price of rice to increase in the local market,” said Hossain, also former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
Source: The Daily Star
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