Paddy seed sellers are allegedly charging arbitrary prices for hybrid rice seeds, taking advantage of the lack of price regulation in Sunamganj.

Many farmers are already facing difficulties in purchasing seed due to soaring prices of hybrid varieties.

Water has started receding from the low lands used for Boro rice cultivation in the haor areas of Sunamganj, signaling the beginning of the planting season.

Within the next ten days, the land will be ready, and more than four lakh farmers across 12 upazilas, who rely on Boro rice for their livelihood, will begin preparing seedbeds.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has fixed prices for its paddy seeds, while there is no such control over hybrid seeds. As a result, farmers are compelled to buy hybrid seeds at inflated rates, with no effective oversight from the authorities concerned.

According to the BADC price list, dealers purchase 25 varieties of BADC rice seeds, including BRRI-28, 67, 81, 84, 86, 88, 100, 101, 102, 105, 107, 108, and BINA, at Tk57 per kilogram while the farmers in marginal areas then buy them at Tk65 per kilogram. Similarly, BRRI varieties 14, 16, 26, 29, 58, 74, 89, 92, 96, 97, and 99 are sold to dealers at Tk56 per kg and to farmers at Tk64 per kg.

Officials from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said that private seed companies independently determine the prices of hybrid rice seeds. The department has no information on the purchase or selling prices of these hybrid varieties.

Since BADC does not set or monitor hybrid seed prices, companies are reportedly exploiting the situation by charging higher prices, particularly in remote haor areas.

Jewel Mia from Kushaha Haor in Bishwambarpur upazila said he found hybrid seed prices excessively high. “Jalakraj seeds cost Tk480 per kg, while a 10-kg bag of BRRI-28 and 29 varieties costs Tk650. A 2-kg packet of the 102 variety is priced at Tk250,” he said.

have urged the government to intervene by regulating hybrid seed prices to ensure fair access for those dependent on Boro rice cultivation in the haor region.

Local seed traders, however, claimed that prices vary depending on companies and regions. “We sell at lower prices compared to other places, but rates differ from market to market,” said a shopkeeper in Bishwambarpur.

Omar Faruk, deputy director of the Sunamganj District Department of Agricultural Extension and a member of the District Seed Sales Monitoring Committee, said, “Private companies set their own seed prices. We have instructed agricultural assistants to inform farmers that if anyone charges more than the printed price on the packet, they should report it to us with proof. We will take necessary action.”