Stop eating polished rice, prices will reduce: Food minister

The country did not have to import even one kg of rice in the last fiscal year 2022-23. Rather, the production of rice was more than the demand, said Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar.

“Now we can easily export 5-7 lakh tonnes of rice if we stop eating polished rice. Due to polishing the rice, about 1.2 million tonnes are being wasted at the rate of 3 percent, out of the four crore tonnes produced. Rice is being polished in five steps in the country. Even if it is polished twice, 5-7 lakh tonnes of rice will increase,” he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of an international exhibition at the International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka on Thursday (May 9).

He said, "After polishing several times, there is no other nutrition left in the rice except carbohydrates. It costs about Tk 4 per kg if we consider electricity and labor costs. The consumers ultimately bear the additional cost as it is added to the price of rice.”

Stating that the government is going to enact a law prohibiting the polishing of rice, the food minister said, "We have also stopped marketing rice under different names like miniket. I would request the consumers to stop eating glistening rice. Then as the price of rice will come down, we will also be successful in exporting rice. After the enactment of the new law, mill owners will be fined from next Amon season if they polish rice. Let's prepare to export rice with everyone's efforts.”

Meanwhile, eight international exhibitions on food, agricultural machinery, medical equipment, health tourism and other sectors have started in the country.

Organized by CEMS-Global USA, an international trade show organiser based in New York, the three-day event will continue till Saturday.

The eight exhibitions started simultaneously are 7th Food Bangladesh International Expo, 4th Food Pack Expo, 7th Agro Bangladesh International Expo, 7th Poultry & Livestock Bangladesh International Expo, 15th Meditex Bangladesh International Expo, 10th Pharma Bangladesh International Expo, 8th Bangladesh Clinical Lab Expo, and 7th International Health Tourism and Services Expo Bangladesh.

The food minister inaugurated all these exhibitions and visited various stalls.
About 100 companies from more than 15 countries, including Bangladesh, Turkey, India, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Sri Lanka and China, are participating in these exhibitions showcasing latest equipment, advanced technology, products and services in the world of agriculture and plastic industry.

In addition, about 112 companies from more than 15 countries including Bangladesh, India, China, Singapore, Germany, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea and Sri Lanka are offering services about solving health problems with advanced technology and services in the field of health and medicine, and cooperation between domestic and foreign hospitals and doctors, said officials from CEMS-Global USA, the organizer of these exhibitions.

The exhibitions will be open for visitors from May 9 to May 11 daily from 10:30 am to 8:00pm.