The government aims to complete the bulk of its seasonal procurement of Aman rice well ahead of the national election scheduled for mid-February, Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumdar said on Thursday.

He made the remarks following the official inauguration of the Aman rice collection drive.

Speaking to reporters at his office in the Ministry of Food, Majumdar said the drive will continue until February 28, but noted that district- and upazila-level food officials will be heavily involved in election duties by mid-February. “Keeping this in mind, instructions have been given to all concerned to meet the collection targets before mid-February. No laxity will be acceptable,” he added.

Majumdar mentioned that the government wants to hand over a comfortable and adequate food stock to the next administration. “The government will try to collect almost its entire target before the election. We are committed to this,” he said.

This season, the procurement rates have been set at Tk 34 per kg for paddy, Tk 50 per kg for parboiled rice, and Tk 49 per kg for atap rice. Agreements with millers have already been finalized, and formal procurement began today.

The government has set minimum collection targets of 50,000 tons of paddy, 600,000 tons of parboiled rice, and 50,000 tons of atap rice.

Majumdar added that these targets represent the minimum baseline. “The more we can collect, the more we can reduce our dependence on imports,” he said.

He said that the government maintains food stocks to support the Public Food Distribution System and strives to keep reserves at a safe, satisfactory level. This year’s Boro season collection had reached record levels, he added.

Majumdar also highlighted the expansion of the public food distribution network. The number of beneficiaries under the Food Friendly Programme has increased by 500,000, now covering 5.5 lakh families, each receiving 30 kg of rice per month at Tk 15 per kg.

The programme has also been extended from five to six months. “We believe these steps will help keep rice prices stable in the market for a long time,” he said.