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Wednesday, 20 July 2011 00:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shezna Shums
The Yala season that runs from May to end August has so far produced a high yield of paddy giving the hope that the country could reap a bumper harvest from the Yala season this year.
Additional Secretary Ministry of Agriculture S. Amatiyagoda said that this year theYala season had produced approximately 483,000 hectares of paddy as against 419,000 hectares last year, and that farmers were in the process of harvesting same. He said it was likely that the paddy yield would be in the region of 1.7 metric tonnes.
“Although the Maha season which is from September to March produces a higher yield of paddy, this is one of the biggest yields from the Yala season compared to previous years,” he claimed.
When asked whether rice would be available in the market at a lower price because of the higher yield, Amatiyagoda said that the government would take adequate steps to maintain rice prices at a reasonable level. He explained that if the supply of rice exceeded the demand, then the price would be maintained at a stable level.
“The surge in this year’s paddy harvest is also due to the new paddy cultivations that have emerged in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country. Previously there was no paddy cultivation in the north and east — at least there was no cultivation done for commercial purposes,” he added.
“With this high yield the Yala season paddy supply will be adequate for the country till at least December or even January, and we will not have to import rice,” explained Amatiyagoda.
While the global demand for rice is to increase at 1.95%, the production will increase at 1.62% per annum making the tradable rice volume to be doubled in another 20 years time. As a result the rice price would decline at 0.73% per year. On the other hand the domestic price of rice on par with Thai A1 super (the cheapest in the world market) would be higher by US $ 50 - 70 per tonne than the internationally traded rice. This situation will place Sri Lanka under increased pressure to produce cheaper and high quality rice in the coming years
Rice is the single most important crop occupying 34 percent (0.77 /million ha) of the total cultivated area in Sri Lanka. The average annual extent sown with rice is about 870,000 hectares and about 1.8 million farm families are engaged in paddy cultivation island-wide.
