State Minister for Food Md. Abdul Bari. File Photo

SANGSAD BHABAN, April 5, 2026 (BSS) - The government currently has 19.20 lakh 
metric tons of food grains in its public godowns and has taken various 
initiatives to increase the stock through both international and domestic 
procurement.

State Minister for Food Md. Abdul Bari disclosed the information in the 
Jatiya Sangsad (JS) today in response to a 
starred tabled question from BNP lawmaker AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon (Noakhali-
1).

With Speaker Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair, Bari 
said that as of March 30, 2026, the government's food godowns hold some 19.20 
lakh metric tons of food grains, including 15.79 lakh metric tons of rice and 
3.39 lakh metric tons of wheat.

The state minister said the government is increasing food stocks through 
imports of rice and wheat from abroad under government-to-government (G2G) 
arrangements and open international tenders, alongside domestic procurement 
of paddy and rice from contracted rice mills and genuine farmers holding 
agricultural assistance cards at government-fixed prices during Boro and Aman 
seasons.

Regarding international procurement, he said contracts have been signed to 
import a total of 6 lakh metric tons of rice-- five lakh metric tons through 
international tenders and one lakh metric tons through G2G arrangements in 
the current 2025-26 fiscal year.

Of this, three lakh metric tons of rice has already been received and the 
remaining three lakh metric tons is expected to arrive soon.

For wheat, contracts have been signed to import a total of 7.10 lakh metric 
tons of wheat-- 50,000 metric tons through international tenders and 6.60 
lakh metric tons of wheat from the United States under G2G arrangements.

So far, 5.35 lakh metric tons of wheat has been received and the remaining 
1.75 lakh metric tons is expected to arrive within the scheduled time.

The state minister said that the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee 
(FPMC) under the Ministry of Food is responsible for setting policies for 
domestic food grains procurement.

Under the upcoming Boro procurement season 2026, scheduled from May to August 
2026, the government plans to procure five lakh metric tons of paddy and 
12/13 lakh metric tons of rice domestically.

Necessary food grains will also be procured from both international and 
domestic sources in the 2026-27 fiscal year as per requirement, he added.