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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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CWE to purchase rice at guaranteed price by Don Asoka Wijewardena Arrangements are being made by the (CWE) to purchase rice from farmers directly at a guaranteed price and supply rice to the local market at a reasonable price. Sources at the Ministry of Agriculture told "The Sunday Observer" that the root cause for price increases of rice was an 8 per cent drop of the total production in the year 2001 and the total production was 2.6 million metric tons (mt) in 2001,which was not sufficient to meet the demand of the country. "Had there been at least 3 million mt in the year 2001 there would have been no shortage of Samba and Red rice and there was no buffer stock (at least 50,000 metric tons) as stockpiling had been neglected," said L. P. Rupasena, an economist. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, S. B. Dissanayake, has assured that in another two weeks there will be a stable price for rice when the Maha harvest comes to the market. A spokesman at the Ministry of agriculture also pointed out that as an emergency measure the government had to import around 12,500 mt of rice and consumers are requested to substitute another variety for Samba and Red rice till Maha harvest reaches the market. The Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research Institute (HARTI) has made necessary arrangements to celebrate its 30th anniversary on February 21st at the HARTI premises. Speaking at a press conference, the Director of the HARTI, Prof. M. O. A. de Zoysa, said that the HARTI was established in 1972, with assistance of the UNDP and FAO to formulate policy analysis and socio-economic research programs to the development of agrarian and rural sectors and was mainly responsible for training, research and information dissemination on agrarian issues. When asked about the price increase in rice, the Director said that stockpiling of rice and a proper crop monitoring system had been neglected by the previous regime and as result price stabilisation could not be implemented. The Director also pointed out that to stabilise prices of rice he would make a suggestion to the Minister of Agriculture, S. B. Dissanayake to reactivate the Paddy Marketing Board, which could stockpile paddy and issue it to the market when emergency arises. "Had the CWE stockpiled rice there would have been no price increase of rice. We have formulated a constructive plan to train farmers on sustainable growth of rice, providing credit facilities to farmers and opening new markets for their produce, with a reasonable price. One of the reasons for rice shortage is that hotel and restaurant owners do not like to purchase other varieties other than Samba, because Samba is available only in Sri Lanka and does not get spoilt quickly therefore the demand is only for Samba," said the Director. The future plans of the HARTI include assisting the national poverty alleviation program, helping better target the "Samurdhi" benefits by identifying indicators for measuring poverty at the local level, monitoring the impact of government policies, carrying out exploratory surveys in the war-affected area to assess the needs for revival of agriculture and sustain food security, strengthening HARTI as a "National Academy of Research and Human Resources Development", pursuing the mandatory provisions the HARTI has for awarding diplomas and degrees related to agrarian and rural development and relinking HARTI with relevant national and international organisations. |
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