Govt. paddy purchase in full swing

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

The Government has already purchased 20,000 metric tons of paddy from farmers countrywide under its national paddy purchasing program.

The Government has already allocated Rs. 5000 million to purchase 2009-2010 Maha paddy harvest. However, the President has given guidelines to the treasury to release more funds at any time to purchase any stock of Maha paddy harvest from farmers an Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Ministry spokesman told the Sunday Observer.

The Government's paddy purchasing mechanism is being conducted through the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB), co-operatives and private sector dealers approved by the PMB to purchase paddy from farmers. At present a kilo of Samba paddy is purchased at a certified price of Rs.30 while a kilo of Nadu paddy is purchased at Rs.28.

If the farmers directly bring their paddy harvest to the PMB stores without selling them through agents, arrangements have been made to offer them an additional Rs.1.50 per kilo of Samba and Nadu paddy, he said.

He said at present the Government has already commenced its national paddy purchasing program in all major paddy producing areas countrywide. In order to successfully conduct this program, five zones have been set up to purchase paddy from farmers including Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, the Southern and Eastern provinces. He said the PMB has adequate storage facilities to store the paddy harvest purchased from farmers. At present 78 PMB stores have been set up countrywide to purchase paddy from farmers. The PMB has also appointed 585 private sector agents to purchase paddy from farmers.

After the eradication of terrorism, paddy cultivation in the Eastern Province has shown a rapid increase. Therefore a bumper paddy harvest is also expected from the Eastern Province during this Maha season, he added.