The National Agrarian Unity (NAU) organisation accused the Government of continuing to import rice from foreign countries instead of utilising local paddy stocks stored with the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB), a move that, they allege, has brought paddy purchases from farmers to a standstill.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the NAU’s President Anuradha Tennakoon said that private buyers are no longer purchasing from small-scale farmers, and that paddy is being sold at extremely low prices while the Government has also stopped buying. “In some areas of Kurunegala, one kilogram of paddy is being sold for Rs. 90-95. In some other areas, it is Rs. 105. It is only through the PMB that we can sell paddy at a higher price,  they are also closed down now,” he said.

Tennakoon further pointed out that even the existing storage facilities are substandard. “There are rats and other pests that harm the paddy. But, even with these minimum facilities, there is not enough storage to buy paddy from the farmers.” He added that instead of emptying these stores to purchase local paddy, the Government is importing rice from foreign countries. “If imports are limited and local paddy is channelled into the market, farmers will be protected and import costs would also come down,” Tennakoon said.

Deputy Agriculture Minister, Namal Karunarathne was not available for comment at the time of contact.