Bangladesh to buy 1.1 mln tonnes rice from domestic farmers

* Rice purchase to build emergency stocks

* Procurement prices in line with domestic market

DHAKA, April 21 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's food and disaster management ministry will buy 1.1 million tonnes of rice from domestic farmers in the next four months to boost emergency food stocks, officials said on Wednesday.

The buying starts on May 2 to follow harvest of a winter rice crop estimated at 19 million tonnes. An additional 150,000 tonnes paddy will aso be bought, the officials said.

The procurement prices for rice and paddy are set at 25 taka ($0.36) and 17 taka per kilogramme respectively, at par with current prices for coarse rice in the domestic retail market.

Bangladesh, a delta nation on the Bay of Bengal often lashed by cyclones and floods, maintains emergency food stocks of over 1.0 million tonnes, mainly staple rice. But stocks have been depleted after 500,000 tonnes were sold to keep prices stable in recent months.

Bangladesh produces more than 30 million tonnes of rice annually, sufficient to feed its 150 million population. But it often requires imports to cope with shortages cause by natural calamities.

Bangladesh, the world's fourth biggest rice producer, plans to import 300,000 tonnes of rice in the current fiscal year through June, food officials said.

($1 = 69.25 taka) (Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Ed Lane)