The government has decided to export around 10 to 15 lakh tons of rice this year, aiming to save the country’s farmers from losses, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said today.

The minister came up with the discloser while addressing a press conference on the market price of paddy at the auditorium of his ministry office in Dhaka this noon.

As part of the efforts to minimise the farmers’ losses, the government is considering rising incentive more than 20 per cent aiming at encouraging rice export.

At the same time, the government has increased import duty to 55 per cent from 28 per cent to discourage the rice import, he said.

During the press conference, the minister also underscored the need for mechanisation and modernisation in the agriculture sector to make it more profitable.

Earlier on May 18, GM Quader acting Chairman of Jatiya Party, the main opposition in the parliament, at a press conference criticised the government for its plan to export rice saying the government will have to pay much if it exports food crops.

Quader also a former commerce minister at the press conference categorically said that if the government export rice, it will face a serious crisis in purchasing the rice from the market despite paying the double during any natural disaster.