Gemidiriya helps farmers make agriculture a profitable venture

Farmers in Sri Lanka are the most vulnerable people who are always affected by the fluctuation of prices in the markets. They produce without knowing at what price they would sell their products.

Marketing difficulties of farm products such as paddy, potatoes, maize and vegetables due to the drop in prices is a frequently discussed and politically sensitive issue.

The maize farmers in the Moneragala district face this issue where they have to sell their harvest at a lower price as a result of the sharp drop in price during the harvesting season.

Chena cultivation is one of the main livelihoods of the majority of rural people in the district. As a result of this market failure, the income of the farmers were curtailed and they remain poor. When Gemidiriya planned livelihood development sub projects for the community this issue was taken seriously and they attempted to make agriculture a profitable venture for the farmer addressing marketing and productivity issues.

In market research it was revealed that the maize market is a monopoly and although the farmers receive a lower price the maize price is significantly high, because the government has impossed a tax on maize imports to support the local farmers.

The farm gate price of maize dropped to Rs. 15-17/kg during the harvesting season but poultry feed millers paid over Rs. 35/kg.

The Gemidiriya District Federation in Moneragala intervened to solve this issue. They negotiated with the main poultry feed millers and entered into forward sales agreement to directly supply maize.

For the first time in history traditional maize farmers in the district were assured of Rs. 30/kg future price for their harvest even before they plough the land.

After Gemidiriya Moneragala federation purchased maize at Rs.30/kg, the open market price too increased to Rs.30-38 and all the farmers in the area benefitted.

The livelihood facilitator of Gemidiriya Moneragala district office R. M. Jayawardena said that at the last Maha season over 2,500 farmers in 69 villages cultivated maize in over 3,500 acres under forward sales agreements. In the first quarter of the year they sold 468 MT of maize under the agreement.

In addition to addressing marketing issues, the Gemidiriya provided training to farmers on modern methods of maize cultivation, high quality seeds, training on post harvest processing methods and credit facilities to the farmers.

(GW)