Although there is a surplus of around 4 million tonnes of rice in the country, the price of the staple has seen a rise in the local market after India banned its export in a bid to keep their market stable.

The rice has got costlier by at least Tk 2 per kg in the local market just after the Indian government announced the ban on the export of non-basmati white rice from Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Food, Bangladesh imported 1 million tonnes of rice in the last fiscal year from various destinations, including India.

Prof ASM Golam Hafiz, a renowned farm economist, told the Daily Sun that local traders have made the rice market unstable soon after hearing the news on the ban on rice export by India.

“We usually import some rice from India when the market becomes unstable. It won’t be possible to import rice this time due to the ban,” he said.

The current annual demand for rice is 36.2 million tonnes — 25.2 million tonnes for human consumption and 11 million tonnes for non-human consumption — while the country produced 40.1 million tonnes of rice in the last fiscal year.

Despite the surplus production of rice by around 4 million tonnes, unscrupulous traders continued to hike the rice price, causing immense sufferings for people, especially the low-income group.

The Indian government on Thursday banned the export of non-basmati white rice as retail rice price climbed 3 percent in a month after heavy monsoon rains caused significant damage to crops.

India is the largest global rice exporter which accounts for over 40 percent of global rice export.

It exports rice to more than 140 countries. Benin, Bangladesh, Angola, Cameroon, Djibouti, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Nepal are the key buyers of Indian non-basmati rice.

Agricultural economists fear that the price of rice will increase in the upcoming days due to the ban on rice export by India.

The price of coarse rice has already increased by Tk 2-3 per kg in the retail market in the country following the Indian ban.

Coarse rice is now selling at Tk 48-52 per kg from last week’s Tk 48-50, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

Bangladesh set a record in rice production in the last fiscal year, reaping an astounding 40.1 million tonnes due to the government’s robust food policy.

Despite the bumper production, the country imported 1 million tonnes of rice from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Out of the import, a total of 0.6339 million tonnes was imported by the government and 0.4216 million tonnes by private organisations, according to the food ministry.

Agricultural economist Dr Jahangir Alam Khan told the Daily Sun that the ban on rice export by India will largely affect the international market as India is the largest rice exporter. “It may not affect our local market greatly.”

“The local traders are manipulating the rice price after hearing the news. The government should strictly monitor the market to keep the price under control as Bangladesh produced 40.1 million tonnes of rice in the last fiscal year,” he said.

Nirod Baran Saha, president of Naogaon Paddy and Rice Wholesale Traders’ Association, said the ban on rice export by India will not affect the local rice market. “It may fuel the global rice price.”

“We don’t see any problem right now with the current stock of rice in the country,” he said.