Over 53,000 tonnes of paddy purchased so far by Govt.
Thursday, 26 March 2015 00:00
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By Waruni Paranagamage
Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) Chairman M.B. Dissanayake yesterday asserted that the quantity of purchased paddy for Government stores from a surplus from the Maha season has increased by over 53,000 metric tonnes to date.
He said the allocated Rs. 9,900 million for the project was being received in part by the Government.
The ministries of Food Security and Industry and Commerce, in conjunction with the Government’s 100-day program, collaborated last month to ensure a certified purchasing price for paddy from farmers.
Dissanayake told the Daily FT that the program also aimed to re-sell them to the market during the off-season to overcome the price hike due to poor supply.
The program aims to purchase 10% of production from the paddy surplus at a certified price and store this surplus for use during the off-season.
The Chairman told the Daily FT while 40% was allocated for local consumption the remaining 60% would be stored. From the stored portion, 10% will be absorbed by the Government while the remaining 90% will be stored by private sector paddy malls.
The PMB data reveals that the maximum purchased amount was reported from the Ampara District at 8,512 metric tonnes, while Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Puttalam reported 6,452 metric tonnes, 2,832 metric tonnes and 2,564 metric tonnes respectively.
He said that a kilogramme of Samba was being purchased for Rs. 50 while a kilogramme of Nadu rice was being purchased for Rs. 45 at Government stores.
However, he asserted that the private sector purchasing price varied between Rs.35 to Rs. 40 for all three varieties.
“Private mills purchase wet paddy from the farmers. So they have to charge the production cost,” he added.
He said that the farmer organisations in every district had already provided wet meters to ensure the quality of paddy.
Data from the Department of Census and Statistics reveals that in 2014 the country produced 2,235,851 metric tonnes of paddy during the Maha season. However, Dissanayake said this time it had estimated a total production of 3.3 million metric tonnes for the season.
