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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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Paddy purchasing program progresses by L. S. A. Wedaarachchi The paddy purchasing program implemented by the government last week has been progressing satisfactorily in the Ampara, Kurunegala and Anuradhapura districts. This year's Maha paddy harvest, specially in Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala and Anuradhapura districts, has been a success. Farmers have already begun collecting and selling the reaped Maha harvest in Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Ampara districts. It will be followed in the Polonnaruwa district in the near future. All efforts taken on previous occasions to purchase paddy at a certified price from paddy cultivators failed. Farmers had to sell their stocks to paddy millers and intermediators at a low price. The Inter-ministerial paddy purchasing program planned and implemented by Minister of Agriculture, Land and Livestock Development Anura Kumara Dissanayake in collaboration with Minister of Agricultural Marketing Development, Cooperative Development and Hindu Affairs Douglas Devananda seeks to ensure a reasonable price for farmers. Both ministers along with the relevant officials of ministries and departments toured the Ampara district last week and instructed officers of state institutions and the cooperatives regarding the paddy purchasing program. Paddy purchasing centres have already been set up by the Cooperative Department in Kurunegala, Ampara and Anuradhapura districts and purchasing has been progressing successfully, according to officials of the Agriculture Ministry. The paddy purchasing program is being implemented in other paddy producing districts namely Hambantota, Matara, Puttalam, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee, Mannar, Ratnapura, Kandy, Badulla and Matale. The Agriculture Ministry said they could collect 102,912 metric tons of paddy during the Maha season. Rs. 16.50 for a kilo of Samba and Ratu Kekulu and for Nadu Rs. 15.50 per kilo are being paid to the farmers under this project. Farmers in the North and East are being paid one rupee more as a relief measure considering the hardships encountered by them in the recent past. The Treasury has allocated Rs. 200 million for the inter-ministerial paddy purchasing program to pay the farmers for their harvests. The price of rice also increased due to the mishandling of paddy
purchases on previous occasions. The government expects to maintain a buffer
stock of 200,000 metric tons of paddy. A fair price of rice is also expected
under this arrangement. |
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