Ministry of Food

ministry · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head: Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid
Role: Minister (combined Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock portfolio)
Annual budget: —
Staff: —
Established: 1971
Legal basis: Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 55; Rules of Business 1996; reorganised from Ministry of Food and Disaster Management by government order in 2012

The Ministry of Food is executing Boro 2026 procurement at unchanged prices (paddy Tk 36/kg) targeting 18.5 lakh MT of food grains while managing an emergency response to haor flash floods that damaged over 46,000 hectares of standing crop and created a rice shortfall exceeding 200,000 MT; the ministry has authorised emergency imports of 500,000 MT rice and enabled private mill drying for flood-affected farmers. Public stock stood at 19.20 lakh MT (rice 15.79 lakh MT, wheat 3.39 lakh MT) as of mid-April 2026.

Recent activity

2026-02-17 appointment Technocrat Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid sworn in as full minister for the combined Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock portfolio in PM Tarique Rahman's BNP cabinet; Sultan Salahuddin Tuku (MP, Tangail-5) simultaneously sworn in as State Minister for the same combined portfolio. ↗↗↗
2026-02-19 policy State Minister Tuku announced Ramadan 2026 subsidised protein distribution programme covering 10 lakh low-income families: dressed broiler at Tk 245/kg, pasteurised milk at Tk 80/litre, eggs at Tk 8/piece, beef at Tk 650/kg, sold via mobile vans for 26 days until the 25th of Ramadan. ↗↗↗
2026-02-28 statement State Minister Tuku declared the government is working to achieve full food self-sufficiency and to transform surplus production into exportable commodities; he also stated the government would deal strictly with any artificial crisis in the food and agriculture sector. ↗↗
2026-04-04 statement State Minister Tuku stated ensuring fishermen's food security is a top government priority; he noted past corruption in rice distribution has been addressed through round-the-clock monitoring and a zero-tolerance policy. ↗
2026-04-10 other Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (FPMC) confirmed government food grain stock at 19.20 lakh MT: 15.79 lakh MT rice and 3.39 lakh MT wheat, spread across 4 silos and 1,012 Central and Local Storage Depots (CSDs and LSDs). Stock level reported by State Minister Md Abdul Bari in parliament. ↗↗↗↗
2026-04-21 appointment Abu Taher Md Masud Rana transferred from Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to serve as Food Secretary; outgoing Food Secretary Md Firoz Sarkar reassigned as Secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division. Notification issued by Ministry of Public Administration. ↗↗↗
2026-04-22 policy FPMC fixed Boro 2026 procurement prices: paddy Tk 36/kg (unchanged from Boro 2025), parboiled rice Tk 49/kg, atap rice Tk 48/kg, wheat Tk 36/kg. Procurement targets: 5 lakh MT paddy, 12.50 lakh MT parboiled rice, 1 lakh MT atap rice, 50,000 MT wheat. Campaign to run May 3 to August 31, 2026. ↗↗↗
2026-04-29 policy High-level meeting chaired by Food Secretary Abu Taher Md Masud Rana, responding to haor flash floods, authorised farmers to dry inundated paddy at private rice mills and government godowns with departmental support; DGFood directed to procure dried paddy directly from flood-affected farmers; millers encouraged to purchase paddy rapidly to sustain procurement momentum. ↗↗
2026-05-03 procurement Nationwide Boro 2026 paddy and wheat procurement drive officially launched; rice procurement commenced May 15. Operations confirmed active in Sirajganj, Bogura, Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Narail, and Mollahat. Government also directed emergency import of 500,000 MT rice to compensate for haor flood losses exceeding 200,000 MT. ↗↗
2026-05-11 other State Minister Tuku addressed the 8th National Scientific Conference on Food Safety and Health, calling for coordinated government-private efforts to ensure food safety; he highlighted uncontrolled use of harmful substances and antibiotics in food as a severe public health threat. ↗↗↗

Provenance & notes

Ministry of Food (MoFood) was originally the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies created in 1971 at independence; reorganised in 2012 when Disaster Management was split off as a separate ministry. In Tarique Rahman's 13th Parliament cabinet (sworn February 17, 2026), the Food portfolio was merged into a combined Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock brief held by technocrat minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid; Sultan Salahuddin Tuku (BNP, Tangail-5) serves as State Minister for the same combined portfolio and is the public face of food policy announcements. The standalone ministry budget for MoFood is not published separately in Bangladesh's FY 2025-26 budget documents; the combined agriculture cluster (Agriculture + Food + Fisheries and Livestock) was allocated Tk 39,620 crore. Food Secretary was changed April 21, 2026: Abu Taher Md Masud Rana replaced Md Firoz Sarkar. The 19.20 lakh MT stock figure (rice 15.79 lakh MT, wheat 3.39 lakh MT) cited in parliament circa April 10, 2026 is confirmed by BSS, UNB, Daily Star, and Dhaka Tribune. Haor flash flood damage (late April 2026): 46,000+ ha inundated, shortfall estimated at 200,000+ MT; emergency 500,000 MT rice import directive issued. Boro 2026 procurement prices are unchanged from Boro 2025 despite reported farm gate production cost of Tk 32.97/kg, drawing farmer discontent. Storage infrastructure: 4 operational silos plus 1,012 CSDs and LSDs; capacity expanded to 23.88 lakh MT after completion of silos in Madhupur, Barishal, Mymensingh, and Narayanganj. DGFood operates the PFDS (OMS, Food Friendly Programme at Tk 10/kg for 55 lakh families, VGF, FFW, etc.).

Ministry of Food

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