Saiful Islam has lately been busy preparing his five bighas of land to grow paddy. But he reckons he will have to spend Tk 25,000 more than he did last season for the cultivation as the cost of just about everything has gone up.

Meghna Group of Industries (MGI) and TK Group, two major commodity processors in Bangladesh, are set to enter into the milling and marketing of rice, a move that may intensify competition but drive small operators out of the market.

Dr Mohammad Jahangir Alam of BAU talks to The Daily Star about the country's rice production.

Bangladesh made gains in food production and ensured the availability of rice in recent years. But surging inflation, erratic weather, and the Russia-Ukraine war affected the availability of cereals and reduced low-income people’s access to food this year.

High prices are making life harder for the poor

Rice prices have fallen to a nearly three-year low impacted by downturn in paddy prices at the farmers’ level in the wake of good harvest as well as higher private and public stocks of the grain.