The Ministry of Agriculture is currently holding discussions with the Ministry of Trade to stop the importation of rice to the country in order to maintain a fair price in purchasing paddy from the local farmers, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Gunadasa Samarasinghe said.He said the local farmers have faced difficulties in selling their paddy harvest at present.
Some farmers have paddy stocks in their stores, which have been harvested two cultivation seasons ago.Meanwhile, the ministry said that discussions are currently being held with the state banks to obtain loans in order to purchase paddy from the local farmers through the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB), the Ministry of Agriculture said.According to the ministry, although the PMB has made all the necessary arrangements to purchase paddy from the farmers, the process has been delayed due to the unavailability of necessary funds.
The ministry expects that the discussions with the state banks would be successful and to expedite the paddy purchasing process once the expected loans are received.Budget 2023 has allocated Rs.115.62 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture for next year.
Of this amount, Rs.115 billion will be spent by the ministry, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Development and the Department of Animal Production and Health as capital and recurrent expenditures. Rs. 620 million will be spent for the establishment of 10 Agri-entrepreneurship villages, reducing post-harvest losses and improving storage facilities, enhancement of liquid milk production and retaining the youth in the Agri entrepreneurship. These programmes will be implemented as budget proposals.
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