The government has a stock of 20.72 lakh metric tonnes of food grains in its warehouses across the country, State Minister for Food Abdul Bari told Parliament on Tuesday.
Responding to a starred question from ruling party lawmaker Lutfur Rahman of Cox’s Bazar-3 constituency, the state minister said that as of June 21, government food godowns held 20,72,754 metric tonnes of rice and wheat.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad tabled the question-and-answer session at the beginning of the day’s parliamentary proceedings, which commenced at around 3pm.
Abdul Bari said the government had undertaken extensive procurement measures to further strengthen the country’s food reserves.
Under the ongoing 2026 Boro procurement programme, the government has set targets to purchase 5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, 12 lakh metric tonnes of parboiled rice, 1 lakh metric tonnes of Atap rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat.
He said that by June 21, the government had procured 2,01,295 metric tonnes of paddy and 6,02,487 metric tonnes of parboiled rice.
In addition, 36,879 metric tonnes of Atap rice and 500 metric tonnes of wheat had been collected, he added.
The state minister expressed optimism that the procurement targets for paddy and rice would be achieved within the stipulated procurement period, which is scheduled to end on August 31.
He said the ongoing procurement drive would help maintain adequate food stocks and strengthen the country’s food security.
