Brahmanbaria paddy hub sees downturn in peak season
From the last week of November, the new Aman paddy has started to arrive at the market but millers are reluctant to buy new wet paddy
The VOC Ghat paddy market on the bank of the River Meghna in Ashuganj of Brahmanbaria is witnessing a sharp decline in sales amid peak harvesting season – a disappointing development that traders attribute to rice market saturation.
At present, only 8,000-10,000 maunds of paddy are being sold per day at the market, the largest of its kind in the eastern part of the country, which is about 75% less than usual, General Secretary of Ashuganj Upazila Rice Mill Owners' Association Helal Sikdar told The Business Standard.
Local traders said rice mill owners are not that interested in buying newly harvested Aman paddies as these products are still wet and would cost the millers more to carry and process.
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Wet paddy needs to be dried out first before putting it into a rice mill to remove the husk and the bran layer of the rice kernel, which makes the rice edible and free from impurities.
When asked about this, Helal Sikdar told TBS, "It takes more time and money to carry and dry the new wet paddy. Besides, new paddy yields less rice than old paddy. Around 18-19 kg of rice can be derived from a maund (approx 38kg) of wet paddy, which is about 4-5 kg less than that can be yielded from old paddy. As a result, the cost of rice production is increasing but the price is not."
According to locals, trading at the COC Ghat market begins early in the morning when hundreds of boats loaded with paddy arrive at the riverine market. Traders collect paddy from the farmers of at least seven adjoining districts.
Usually, around 50,000 to 60,000 maunds of paddy are traded at this market every day, Helal Sikder said.
This market supplies paddy to more than 250 rice mills in the Brahmanbaria district. The district's rice mills supply a huge amount of rice to Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions. Usually, sales soar during paddy season, which is not the case this time, he said.
From the last week of November, the new Aman paddy has started to arrive at the market. BR-39 and BR-49 varieties of rice are now available here but most of these paddies are wet, said Hasan Imran, a paddy trader in Ashuganj.
"Sales in the market are very low right now. Millers are not buying new paddy as they have enough stock of rice. Besides, the prices of paddy have gone down drastically when compared to the prices of rice," the trader added.
Currently, dry paddy of BR-39 variety is selling for Tk1,210-1,220 per maund and wet paddy for Tk1,060-1,070 per maund. The price of dry rice of BR-49 variety is Tk1,250 and wet paddy Tk1,100.
Abul Kashem, a paddy seller of Ashtagram in Kishoreganj, said he bought several hundred maunds of Aman paddy from the farmers but he cannot bring all the rice to the market for sale.
The rice mill owners, however, said the price of new wet paddy is at least Tk200 more than previous times.
According to mill owners, paddy sales dwindled because rice sales declined in the market. Besides, consumers prefer rice derived from older paddy.
"Another reason for the dwindling sale in the paddy market is that the rice market has become saturated now due to the products privately imported from India. So, there is already enough stock at the market, causing millers not to invest more in new paddy," said General Secretary of Ashuganj Upazila Rice Mill Owners' Association Helal Sikdar.
