Bangladesh has reached a major milestone in food security, with government warehouses and silos holding a record 2.35 million tonnes of food grains—the highest public stockpile in the country's history. The reserve consists of approximately 2.05 million tonnes of rice and 300,000 tonnes of wheat, exceeding the Food Directorate's safe stock benchmark of 1.35 million tonnes by nearly 1 million tonnes.

Officials say the record reserve is the result of bumper Aman and Boro harvests, successful procurement drives, increased purchases from farmers at competitive prices and expanded government storage facilities. The large stock is expected to strengthen Bangladesh's ability to respond to natural disasters, stabilize food supplies and support social safety-net programmes.

According to the Food Directorate, the government procured 1.2 million tonnes of paddy and rice during the last Aman procurement season and imported another 500,000 tonnes of food grains. The ongoing Boro procurement programme has already collected around 1.35 million tonnes against a target of 1.8 million tonnes, with procurement activities continuing across the country.

Food Directorate Director (Procurement) Mohammad Moniruzzaman said the current reserve is the highest ever recorded by the department. He attributed the achievement to favorable weather, bumper crop production, realistic procurement prices for farmers and timely food imports.

Government officials said maintaining a safe stock is essential to operate emergency relief programmes, including Open Market Sale (OMS), Vulnerable Group Development (VGD), Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) and Food for Work schemes. The current stock is considered sufficient to meet emergency food requirements for at least three months in the event of major floods, cyclones or other natural disasters.

Bangladesh has significantly expanded its food storage infrastructure over the past decade. With the construction of modern steel silos and additional Local Supply Depots (LSDs), total government storage capacity has increased to about 2.25 million tonnes. Authorities plan to raise that capacity further to 3.7 million tonnes by 2028 to accommodate rising demand from a growing population.

Despite the record government reserves, consumers continue to face high rice prices in the open market. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), retail rice prices increased by Tk 2 to Tk 5 per kilogram during June. Coarse rice sold for Tk 50-54 per kg, medium-quality rice for Tk 52-64, while fine rice reached Tk 65-78 per kg.

Market analysts say the large public stock has had only a limited impact on retail prices because most government reserves are earmarked for emergency use and social safety-net programmes rather than commercial market intervention. As a result, private millers and large corporate traders continue to dominate rice supplies in the open market.

Officials also confirmed that recent floods in northern and eastern Bangladesh caused no significant damage to government food stocks. Early precautionary measures prevented floodwaters from entering warehouses, ensuring that the country's record reserves remain intact. The large stockpile is expected to reduce the need for food grain imports, save foreign currency and strengthen Bangladesh's food security in the coming years.