Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera presented a Cabinet paper to the Cabinet yesterday (16) to provide a higher price for paddy to the paddy farmers. The Minister announced that on the advice of the Sub-Committee appointed by the Cabinet for the Paddy Marketing Board to purchase paddy.
The Cabinet approved the purchase of paddy by the PMB from today (17). The Paddy Marketing Board will start purchasing paddy from today (17). Under this, arrangements have been made to buy a kilo of Nadu rice at Rs.120,
a kilo of Samba rice at Rs.125, and a kilo of Keeri Samba rice at Rs.130. Farmers are complaining that the price of a kilo of paddy in the market has decreased by more than Rs.90.
Considering that fact, the Paddy Marketing Board intervened to provide the maximum price to the farmers’ paddy products, and under the first phase, Rs. 2,000 has been spent and 30,000 metric tonnes is expected to be purchased, and the minister said that this step was taken to prevent rice producers from buying paddy from farmers.
The minister said that the government is ready to intervene and buy more if necessary, and the minister said that between January and July of 2022, the Government imported more than 500,000 metric tonnes of rice.
Currently there is no shortage of rice in the country. The minister also said that since there is a stock of imported rice as well as paddy harvest in the spring season, a shortage of rice is likely to occur at the end of this December, and therefore the government has decided to maintain a rice reserve.
Also, arrangements have been made to prepare the rice purchased by the Paddy Marketing Board and sell it at a minimum price. Every kilo of rice sold by the Paddy Marketing Board will be reduced by Rs.5 and if it is necessary to further reduce the price of rice considering the market situation, the minister said that steps will be taken to do so.
Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Neel De Alwis and Vice Chairman Duminda Priyadarshana participated.
