Rice prices have shot up though there is an ample stock of the staple and Aman fields boasted a healthy harvest with fingers pointing towards an “unholy nexus” between corporate companies and millers for the market manipulation.

Market insiders said mill owners and big corporate companies bought Aman paddy from farmers at a very low price during the harvesting season but they are now selling rice at much higher prices during this peak season.

Aman paddy sold at Tk900-980 per maund (40 kg) in the middle of November at the grower’s end.

“Many corporate companies and millers bought bulk amounts of paddy at a low price during the harvesting season and they’re now increasing rice prices,” said Nizam Uddin, general secretary of Babubazar Rice Traders’ Association.

“Corporate companies and big auto millers are controlling the rice trade. They’ve driven away general businessmen from the rice trade and are now increasing its prices through syndication,” he said.

Dr Jahangir Alam Khan, an agro-economist and researcher, told the Daily Sun that the market manipulation by corporate businessmen is responsible for the hike in rice prices in the peak season.

“The corporate companies buy bulk amounts of paddy but they don’t supply rice in the market. Government’s inefficient management is responsible for the hike in prices of rice and other essentials soon after the general election,” he said.

Prices of all kinds of rice have increased by Tk4-5 per kg in the last 7-8 days in the capital and elsewhere across the country.

Fine quality Miniket rice is selling at Tk68-Tk70 per kg from Tk64-Tk65 while medium quality 28 rice at Tk54 per kg from previous Tk50, Paijam at Tk52 per kg from Tk50 and coarse rice is retailing at Tk50-Tk51 per kg from Tk47-Tk48, according to rice traders at Karwanbazar, Babubazar, Mirpur-6 and Mohammdur in the capital.

Shahjahan Talukder, proprietor of Mukta Rice Agency Karwanbazar, told the Daily Sun that corporate companies and millers have increased the rice prices after making a syndicate.

“They’ve hiked the prices of all kinds of rice by Tk200-250 per sack (50kg) in the last 7-8 days. The prices had been stable in the last 5-6 months. But they increased the prices soon after the national election,” he said.

Nirod Baran Saha Chandan, president of Naogaon Paddy and Rice Wholesale Traders’ Association, said, “The price of paddy has increased to Tk1,250 per maund, which has pushed up the rice prices.”

Usually, rice prices increase 2-3 months after the harvesting start with a decline in supply, he claimed.

“Apart from millers, many businessmen are hoarding paddy illegally.

If the government can increase the supply of paddy in the market after eliminating the illegal hoarders, rice prices may come down,” he said.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) had targeted to produce 171.788 lakh tonnes of rice from 59.335 lakh hectares of land this season. But farmers exceeded the acreage this year and it is expected to increase the production, its officials said.

Published Date: January 16, 2024