Banke. A total of 19,000 quintals of rice is stored in the godown of the Food Management and Trading Company Limited at Nepalgunj.

According to Ram Sharan Lamichhane, chief of Food Management and Trading Company Limited Nepalgunj, 19,000 quintals of rice is stored in the godown.

According to him, the warehouse has five thousand quintals of jeera fine rice, five thousand quintals of Aruwa fine rice and nine thousand quintals of Aruwa coarse rice in stock. There is also 10,000 quintals of paddy that was purchased this year and is yet to be pounded.

The retail and wholesale sale of rice in the godown is going on. The Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) has been sending the demand from the districts of Karnali Province if there is demand. This time, the price of rice has come down by Rs 500 to Rs 600 per quintal, said Lamichhane, chief of the food company.

He said that the price has been adjusted to compete with the local market as the rice of the food management company is of high quality and consumers trust it. Stating there was no problem at food depots in Humla, Jumla, Kalikot, Dolpa, Mugu and Jajarkot of Karnali Province with sufficient quantity of rice at present, Lamichhane said.

The Food Management and Trading Company had purchased only 20,000 quintals of paddy in Banke this year. Many farmers in the district had to return home after they did not purchase all the paddy citing low quota, even though they had brought paddy to the company for sale.

This year, the government had fixed the price of coarse paddy at Rs 3,463 per quintal and medium paddy at Rs 3,628 per quintal. (