With costlier Aman, rice market unlikely to cool off

Infographic: TBS

Aman production costs are likely to be up to 39% more this season than the previous years thanks to low rainfall, costlier fertilisers and irrigation and rising labour charges, according to a government report.

The spiked costs threaten the overall Aman yield, as farmers and agri-economists say harvest of the second major rice crop would not be able to blunt record prices of the food staple.

Per acre Aman cultivation used to cost farmers Tk20,000, which has now edged up to Tk28,000, according to the report.

"Due to low rainfall this year, we have to solely rely on irrigation," said Abu Alam, a farmer in Bogura who cultivated Aman on 2.5 bighas (one bigha is equal to 0.62 acre) of land.

Like Alam, Jamalpur farmer Motiur Rahman was also concerned about spiked irrigation costs that rose to Tk2,500 per acre from previous Tk1,800.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) says there are around 5 lakh irrigation pumps across the country to water Aman fields.

Apart from the 40% rise in irrigation costs, Motiur alleged farmers were not getting urea even at Tk1,300 per sack though the government fixed rate is Tk1,100.

There are media reports suggesting a urea crisis in many districts, as farmers said muriate of potash (MOP) prices have nearly doubled.

The report also noted a 20% rise on an average in labour cost across the country.

Though there have been farmers' agitation in several districts for fertilisers, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute Director General Md Shahjahan Kabir labelled those as "artificial crises".

He, however, said all those factors would contribute to Aman production costs.

The country produced 1.49 crore tonnes of rice in the last Aman season. This year's target is around 1.55 crore tonnes, though no paddy has been planted on 30% of the land earmarked for Aman.

Aman plantation time is mid-July to mid-August, as the agriculture ministry said farmers planted the paddy even in late-August this year.

The report said around 61% of the Aman farmers depend on rain. For them, low rainfall activities mean low production.

According to weathermen, July rainfall was 210 millimetres, which is record low in the last 42 years. Rainfall in August was also around 36% less than usual. However, downpours in the last week across the country brought a sigh of relief to farmers.

"Low-rainfall led Aman irrigation will push up the farming cost 40%," Mohammad Jagangir Alam, an agri-economist, told The Business Standard.

For fertilisers, he also pointed out that farmers are paying more than the government fixed rates.

Against the backdrop, Aman harvest would not be able to stabilise the domestic market, the agri-economist noted. To ease up the paddy production cost, he said there is no alternative to subsidise diesel.

Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at a recent programme said the government is mulling subsidy for diesel to facilitate irrigation.