Govt. paddy purchasing up by 1,000 kg

The government will increase the maximum quantity of paddy purchased from a farmer through the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) by 1,000kg.

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said so participating in an inspection tour of PMB paddy stores in Ambalantota yesterday.

The PMB restricted purchases to 2,000 kg per farmer, which is the yield from only 0.5 hectare based on the national average of 4.2 tons per hectare. However, in some districts such as Ampara and Polonnaruwa, the average yield is around 6-7 tons per hectare. Considering this, the government has decided to increase paddy purchases to 3,000 kg per farmer. The paddy harvesting in the Yala season 2018 had begun and the PMB expects to purchase 120,000 metric tons of paddy from this year’s Yala harvest. The government has allocated Rs. 4.9 billion for this purpose. A kilogramme of Nadu will be purchased at a certified price of Rs. 38, while a kilogramme of Samba will be purchased at Rs. 41.