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It is also a livelihood development program which aims to enhance the economic stature of each of the community members.
The major revenue generating commercial activities of Pulathisi Praja Sanwardena Company include agricultural input sales, seed paddy production and sales, establishing market linkages as well as conducting training programs to educate the farmers on ways to produce high quality seed paddy.
The company also acts as a facilitator in developing linkages between farmers and private sector agro- businesses. Further, Pulathisi Praja Sanwardena Company provides a major portion of the seed paddy collected to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a NGO which distributes seed paddy free of charge to farmers in the north and east regions; supporting to re-instating the poverty stricken farming communities in these areas.
With seven years of industry experience, today Pulathisi Praja Sanwardena Company is a registered ‘Seed Paddy Handler’ of the Department of Agriculture and makes a significant contribution to the country’s seed paddy cultivation, processing and marketing. The company is now able to provide about 9,000 bushels of seed paddy to the market per each season.
Recently, NDB came forward to assist the company by a granting a micro loan facility to expand the company’s seed paddy enterprise. With this funding the company would now be able to pay by cash for the purchase of seed paddy rather than buying on credit, making a higher margin while enjoying a lower whole sale rate.
The facility arranged through NDB’s ‘Divi Aruna’ microfinance livelihood development scheme is expected to help the company encourage farmers to produce more seed paddy as the company now has a higher capacity to purchase more and create a better market for the farmers. Thus the facility is expected to indirectly boost the seed paddy production during the forthcoming cultivation seasons.
Commenting on the facility, NDB Chief Operating Officer Indrajit Wickramasinghe said: “The Pulathisi Praja Sanwardena project is a fine example of the budding entrepreneurial spirit within our rural communities. The pioneers of this company have been able to set up a very profitable, self-reliant enterprise which benefits the farmers and the agriculture industry immensely. Therefore we take pride in partnering this venture to help the company reach the next level and contribute positively towards the seed paddy production of the country, which is a dire necessity of the industry. We wish to encourage more of this sort of bold initiatives across all industries which we will eagerly partner not only with financial assistance but also with suitable advisory services.”
Taking into consideration the importance of SMEs to the national economy, NDB has dedicated over 30 years of customised financial expertise to this sector.NDB supports the SMEs through advanced training, long term loans and other low cost credit facilities coupled with the expertise of professional financial advisors that assess the needs of customers, evaluate related risks, structure finance, and monitor and supervise the credit facilities.
Whilst providing a range of dedicated financial solutions to empower the SME sector, NDB conducts comprehensive SME workshops with focus on educating and developing the skills, knowledge and competencies of the entrepreneurs across the country. Through setting up of regional SME centres the bank aims to operationalise the localised economic drivers and partner the entrepreneurs in the area in their endeavours to maximise on regional business opportunities.
NDB also promotes financial inclusion of the lower end of the industry through its ‘Divi Aruna’ micro finance scheme. Funding of Pulathisi Praja Sanwardena Company is also being facilitated through the ‘Divi Aruna’ scheme, which is a community enrichment program designed for those who have no access or knowledge to financing and is done in a bid to bring together a group of borrowers and encourage their participation.
The launch of the effective program ‘Divi Aruna’ in 2010 was taken across the country and has to date supported over 600 families. The effectiveness of the program has enabled many small time investment customers to migrate over to the SME sector.
