Managements of all the 12 food warehouses in the district have temporarily suspended receiving rice procured under a government  drive in the current Irri-Boro season due to space problem, much to the worry of the farmers and rice mill owners.
This has led to a halt in procurement leaving the farmers frustrated. The farmers are unhappy because Boro paddy is being sold at Tk 325-350 per maund in the local markets, which is much lower than the production cost.
The procurement drive that was scheduled to officially start on May 1  began on May 25 with a target to buy 67,622 tonnes of rice and 1,259 tonnes of paddy from the farmers.  The procurement drive was scheduled to continue till October 31.
 “Only 15,168 tonnes of rice was procured till June 23. Now, it has been temporarily suspended due to space crisis,” said District Food Controller Chowdhury Mosabber Hossain.  
The 12 warehouses in the district have a combined storage capacity of 42,000 tonnes of food grains, official sources said.
But 54,000 tonnes of food grains are still to be procured in the district. The Irri-Boro farmers of Thakurgaon were deprived of fair prices during the last harvesting season. This year, the slow procurement drive has added miseries to the situation, several farmers said.  Rice mill owners, who signed contact with the food department to supply rice, said they might face losses due to the slow progress in the rice procurement drive.   
 "If rice procurement is not expedited we will have to incur losses on account additional preservation cost as well as keeping cash idle for long," Mahmud Hasan Raju, president of Thakurgaon Rice Mills Owners' Association.  District controller of Food Chowdhury Mosabber Hossain Khan the warehouses will soon be cleared of stocks to create enough space for fresh arrival.