SZ Kabir: Bangladesh is the fourth largest producer and consumer of paddy-rice in the world. 75 percent of Bangladesh's crop is paddy. Naogaon is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh. Paddy/rice is cultivated on about 90 percent of the land of this district. Locals proudly call Naogaon district a 'paddy capital' because of the high amount of paddy produced. The economy here is also rice dependent. In this district there are two thousand rice-mills. At present rice farmers and rice-mill owners - no one is well here. Rice traders say paddy-rice prices are constantly falling. As a result, those who bought the rice could not process it. Even though they are processed, they are unable to market the rice as the price of rice is lower than the cost of production. As a result the money is stuck. Due to the continuous recession of the business and the abundance of rice stored in the warehouse, most of the operators stopped production. There are also pressure on the bank. Many owners have failed to repay their loan. District Rice-Mill Owners Association sources said, there are 1,200 rice-mills in the district. Of these, there are 55 automated rice-mills, the remaining 1,145 hasking mills (old manual system mill). Although the owners have renewed their licenses to supply rice to the government warehouses during the season, virtually 95 percent of the production of hasking mills has stopped. Many of the rice-mills were unable to repay the loan taken from the bank as production was stopped. More than 150 rice-mills have been sued for failing to pay their debts. Of the 11 upazilas of Naogaon, 95 percent of the rice-mills are located in the Sadar and Mahadevpur upazilas. Last Monday, October 14, 2019, different areas of the two upazilas were seen, most of mills were stopped. There was no one to talk to at the mills. Mostafizur Rahman, owner of Rekha rice-mills, located in Nowhata area of Mahadebpur Upazila, said, "We, the owners of the hasking mill are in great danger. Due to the business downturn, I started mill for only 15 to 20 days a year to produce rice for the government allocation for two years. In addition, the mills are closed all year long. This is the condition with the hasking Mills, like me. " Rizvi Ahmed, owner of Mowsumi rice-mill of hapania area of Sadar Upazila, said, “Three years ago I borrowed Tk 50 lakh from the bank. Due to continuous recession of the business, I stopped producing rice for a year. The bank was unable to repay as the business was closed. Three months ago, the bank authorities filed a case against me. I have now destitute to the rice business in hopes of making a profit. ” Razzaq Mondal, owner of Messrs Razzaq rice-mill of Saraswatipur area of Mahadevpur Upazila, said that small rice-miller like them are losing capital due to their failure to compete with automated rice-mills and due to high interest rate on bank loans. As a result, they are being forced to stop production of mills to prevent losses.
File Photo[/caption] Zahid Hossain, owner of Messrs Shapla Auto Rice Mill, located in Bhabanipur area of Naogaon, said that new rice will emerge after one and a half months. But last season, Amon and Boro rice were still in his warehouse for sale. At present, the price of rice in the market, now sell, you have to calculate the huge loss. He will sell the rice even if he can raise the cost of production. If this situation does not change then he will have to stop like others. Talking to the rice makers and wholesale and retail rice traders, it was reported that the price of rice per kg 'Zira' at the beginning of the collection of boro four months ago was Tk 48-50. That rice is being sold for at least Tk 36-38. Miniket rice is also being sold at Tk. 34-36 per kg. 'Gooti sorna' rice is currently selling for tk 24-26. Naogaon Alupatti Rice Mokam wholesale rice businessman Sanjay Kumar said, "There is no stability in the rice market this year." Rice prices are constantly falling. Apart from this, the cases are almost free. At this time of the year (between Boro and Aman), the price of rice usually increased. But this time the price is down. Farhad Hossain, general secretary of the District Rice-Mill Owner Group, said that it is normal for the farmers not to be good if the rice owners are not good. The industry is ruined today due to wrong policies of the government. If this industry is not saved, the farmer will not survive. Recently, a recommendation meeting of Naogaon district presented 10 recommendations to the government on behalf of the Rice-Mill Owner Group. Notable among them is that all classes of mills across the country should be properly allocated according to the production capacity, the interest rate of the bank loan should be reduced to one digit, the implementation of the Bangladesh Bank Circular for the borrowers and the rice-mill should be recognized as an industry. Rafiqul Islam, president of the District Rice-Mill Owner Group, said that at present, farmers and rice-mill owners - no one is good. Due to the low import duty, huge quantities of rice have been imported at public and private levels from 2017 to May this year. The impact of this is still down in the market as rice prices are down. If the interest rate on bank loans is not reduced and the government does not introduce 20 percent paddy and 80 percent rice collection system during the harvest season, it will also have an impact in the next Aman season. Source: ProthomAlo
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