Rice import won’t hurt local farmers: agriculture minister

The government has given go-ahead to rice import to keep the local market stable and it will not cause any harm to the Bangladeshi farmers, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said today.

"There is a target for rice import. Once the target is met, we will stop bringing it in."

He also said the commerce and food ministries are working with the agriculture ministry to monitor the market closely so that local farmers remain unhurt from rice import.

Razzaque was speaking at a review meeting on public-private partnership (PPP) in the agriculture sector at the secretariat in Dhaka.

The minister said the price of rice depends on its demand and supply.

"But a section of people tries to make more profit by creating syndicates. The rice import approval has also been given to prevent them," he said.

Razzaque also claimed that the rice market is stable right now thanks to the imports of the staple food grain. "And I think the price has also dropped a bit."