brand logo

Seed paddy to be purchased at Rs. 150 per kg

04 Jul 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the Department of Agriculture to buy seed paddy grown in the Yala cultivation season at a price of Rs. 150 per kilogram (kg).  Noting that the current price given by the Agriculture Department for seed paddy is Rs. 140 per kg, which is not fair to the farmers, an official of the Agriculture Ministry stated that it was therefore decided to raise it to Rs. 150. He also said that Amaraweera is to submit a proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers soon to obtain Cabinet approval for the relevant price revision.  He said that the amount of seed paddy obtained from the Government-owned seed paddy farm is 10-12% of the total requirement, and that the remaining amount is procured from paddy farmers. As it is essential to ensure that seed paddy purchased from farmers is in accordance with the relevant quality, he said that officials of the Agriculture Department have been deployed to check the quality of seed paddy harvest. Meanwhile, claiming that he has received information that some farmers who cultivated seed paddy during the Yala season are selling their harvest to traders at a higher price for manufacturing rice, Amaraweera has said that seed paddy should not be sold to traders to manufacture rice as there is a possibility of a shortage of seed paddy in the coming Maha season. Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector, mainly the paddy cultivation, has suffered a major setback since April 2021 with the Cabinet decision to ban the import and use of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals, as per a proposal made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Since then, farmers have been charging that they have not been able to get the expected harvest, despite the use of organic fertilisers provided by the Government. Amidst strong opposition from farmers and agronomists, the Government lifted the said ban in November last year, but there is still a severe shortage of fertilisers and agrochemicals in the country. Against this backdrop, the Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture in Sri Lanka (AMSASL) recently stated that if the country would not be able to produce sufficient seed paddy during the Yala season, it would, in turn, not be possible to cultivate paddy even if the farmers receive a certain amount of chemical fertiliser in the coming Maha season. Representatives from the AMSASL added that, in the current situation, the Government and other relevant authorities should pay special attention to the production of seed paddy required for the coming seasons.


More News..