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Price of rice at five-year high
BIRATNAGAR, JUL 13 -
The price of rice has soared to a five-year high as a result of a slowdown in paddy production and reduced imports from India.
In the last one month, the price of Sona mansuli rice increased from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,200 per quintal while mansuli rice went up from Rs. 3,200 to Rs. 3,700 per quintal.
According to Ganga Bishan Rathi, central vice president of the Paddy-Rice Industry Association, a fall in paddy production and halt in rice imports from India has resulted in the price hike.
Five years ago, mansuli and Sona mansuli were selling for Rs. 2,700 and Rs. 2,200 per quintal respectively. Businessmen said Sona mansuli was consumed more in the local market.
Similarly, the price of beaten rice has increased from Rs. 3,200 to Rs. 3,700 per quintal, wheat flour from Rs. 3,300 to Rs. 3,500 per quintal and wheat from Rs. 1,600 to Rs. 2,100 per quintal.
Avinash Bohra, general secretary of the Food Entrepreneurs and Morang Trade Association, said that prices had gone up in the market of western Koshi after imports from India were stopped. Traders are not importing rice as prices are the same in Nepal and India.
As per the statistics of the Regional Directorate Office of Agriculture (DOA), paddy production has decreased by 100,000 tons in the eastern region compared to last year as the area of farm land had shrunk due to increasing land plotting. Paddy was grown on 476,862 hectares last year while the area under cultivation has decreased to 377,047 hectares presently.
Posted on: 2010-07-14 08:45
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