Paddy prices become depressed due to high production, which recently took place with a bumper harvest of the boro rice crop. Farmers’ protest that they do not receive price support from the government as paddy prices cover only a fraction of production costs.
Upon request of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Policy Support Unit (APSU), IFPRI's Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP) is conducting a policy study to assess the paddy price issue and identify policies to help farmers overcome low paddy prices in the future. The study will take place in four districts of Bangladesh (Mymensingh, Bogura, Naogaon, and Dinajpur) and West Bengal, India as it has revolutionized the institutional arrangement for paddy procurement.
This study aims to assess to what extent West Bengal's paddy procurement model that directly procures paddy from farmers benefits farmers and whether the model can be replicated beyond the West Bengal context. The study will survey farmers, rice millers, and traders in both India and Bangladesh, as well as have a qualitative component to glean richer insights.
PC: IRRI