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The Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) under the agriculture ministry in early August had announced that marketing of miniket rice in the country’s markets has to be stopped.
But apparently little state measure has come about in the last two months as miniket rice continues to be sold in the markets as before.
“As miniket is not an actual rice variety, so marketing rice under this name is also illegal. Such branding should be strictly controlled in the country,” said a DAM report.
The report covers the origin, nomenclature, production techniques, actual production, loss of nutritional value, health hazards of miniket rice and many other issues.
DAM Director General A Gaffar Khan said the government has taken various steps to stop the sale of miniket rice. However, it is not possible to stop the sale by making a sudden announcement. It will take time. The matter is being worked on, he said.
It has been witnessed at several big kitchen markets in the capital Dhaka and outside that miniket rice is being sold as before.
Traders said till date they have not received any instruction from the government to stop the sale of miniket rice.
In Dhaka visiting different wholesale and retail rice markets it was found that the shops were filled with miniket rice. Traders said miniket rice accounted for over 50 per cent of their total sale.
Amir Hossain, proprietor of Raipur Rice Agency at the Mohammadpur townhall market in the capital, said many buyers also know that there was no actual rice variety called miniket.
Rice traders in Karwan Bazar recently held a meeting. Sources said they mainly discussed changing the name of “miniket”.
An official of the food ministry said the cabinet committee has approved a draft law with the provision of a maximum of five years’ jail term or a fine of Tk 10 lakh or both over the sale of different varieties of rice under the name of miniket.
He said after vetting by the law ministry, it was likely to be passed in the winter session of parliament.
The report of the DAM has highlighted 5 recommendations. These include branding of rice according to the variety of rice and making a specific policy on how much of the rice can be trimmed when processing paddy.
According to the food ministry report, the West Bengal government in 1985 distributed kits of Shatabdi paddy seeds and fertilisers to flood-affected farmers of the state. With the word “kit” in mind, farmers started calling the rice minikit or miniket.
From 1985 to 1990, this rice came from India to Jashore and later spread to nearby districts.
According to the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit, an agency under the Ministry of Food conducted a survey in 2020, millers are making miniket rice from BRRI-28, BRRI-29, BRRI 33, BRRI 43, BRRI 48, BRRI 50, BRRI 51, BRRI 98 rice varieties of paddy.
For decades, the rice grain, modified from coarse to fine by machine, lived up to its billing as the brand for upper-middle-class families.
But little do they know that they’re losing both ways. The modification process of miniket makes the rice less nutritious.
Using modern rice husking machines, millers cut and polish hybrid coarse varieties into fine rice. The DAM report claims rice is also whitened with chemicals but The Daily Star could not independently verify this.
“Most of the micro-nutrients get lost while whitening and polishing the rice. Only carbohydrate remains,” said Nahidul Islam, assistant professor of the agro-processing department of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University.
The different layers of rice contain different micronutrients. As the millers polish the grain with chemicals, the process eventually takes out the bran and geranium, said Nahidul, who has done extensive research on the nutritional value of rice while studying in Odense, Denmark.
The report reaffirms that the rice loses its nutritional value in the process of becoming miniket. The automatic husking machine leaves only carbohydrate in rice, removing fibre, vitamins and minerals like zinc, iron, etc.
Rice fibre helps reduce cholesterol and constipation. Rice without fibre or minerals becomes the cause of health hazards, mentions the report.
At an event in Gazipur on October 5, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said, “No rice can be sold in the name of miniket. While packaging rice in a sack, the rice variety should be written on the sack. Legal action will be taken if anyone fails to do so.”
(TDS)
