Rs. 25 m to purchase Yala paddy

by L. S. A. WEDAARACHCHI

[email protected]
 

Purchasing Yala paddy by the government and private paddy mill owners has commenced. Rs. one million was released last week for each government agent to purchase paddy.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Services Maithripala Sirisena said that this year’s yala paddy harvest is better than the previous years.

He said that farmers received a good price for paddy this year. The Government will continue the fertilizer subsidy to support farmers and be selfsufficent in rice, he said. He said that the acreage under paddy cultivation had increased in all paddy farming districts and with sufficient rainfall the yield too has increased.

The Chairman Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) K. B. Jayasingha said that (PMB) has sufficient paddy storage facilities in Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Hambantota and Puttalamdistricts. The government has decided to maintain a paddy buffer stock of 140,000 MT, he said.

A committee consisting of secretaries of the ministry of Public Administration, Agriculture and Agrarian Services, Trade Marketing Development Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs, Deputy Treasury Secretary and Chairman - PMB was appointed last week to coordinate paddy purchasing this year.