Millers trim rice to make it attractive: state minister
Published on: January 10, 2022.
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The millers have been deceiving consumers by pruning rice to make it attractive, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam said today.
“The millers make the rice thinner by polishing. So, they had to trim the rice. As a result, many nutrients are lost from rice. Such deception is unacceptable in a thriving economy. It should be stopped by law,” he said.
Besides, the mills are also cheating the consumers by setting up brands on their own without giving importance to any variety of rice, Alam said while addressing a discussion on “Expansion and popularization of the market of biofortified Zinc-rich BRRI rice” organised by Bangla daily Bonik Barta.
He said the government is implementing big plans to prevent malnutrition. “However, since rice is the staple food of the people in the country, it is easy to supply zinc through the rice. Just as the presence of iodine in salt and vitamins in oil have been made mandatory, so is the need to make a law to add zinc in rice mandatory. It is not acceptable for someone to cheat and give the rice the desired shape.”
Md Nasiruzzaman, chairman of Bangladesh Krishi Bank and former agriculture secretary, said several countries, including Bhutan, want to take Zinc-rich rice from Bangladesh. “But we can’t afford that. Therefore, it takes 15-16 years to popularise a rice variety after its invention. It should be reduced.”
“We should also think whether the name of paddy can be popularised in any other way without giving it in numbers. Especially, BRRI Dhan 74 and BRRI Dhan 84 varieties are more nutritious. It can be thought whether these varieties can be popularised as Zinc Rice,” he said.
He also announced that the farmers will get a loan of Tk 80,000 to Tk 1 lakh without collateral if they want to cultivate nutritious paddy.
Rudaba Khandaker, country director of Gain Bangladesh; Shakib Qureshi, chief executive of Business Intelligence; Md Shahjahan Kabir, director general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRI), and among others spoke at the programme held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.
Dewan Hanif Mahmud, editor and publisher of Bonik Barta, moderated the discussion. The event was co-hosted by Gain Bangladesh, Harvest Plus and Business Intelligence.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/agriculture/news/millers-trim-rice-make-it-attractive-state-minister-2934961
