(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The government has already commenced the purchase of paddy harvest at the guaranteed price of Rs. 50 per kilogram of paddy under the government’s program to purchase paddy during the 2020 Yala season.
Under the first phase of this program, the government expects to purchase 200,000 metric tons of paddy harvested this Yala season and the Treasury has already taken steps to provide the required financial assistance of Rs. 10,400 million to the Paddy Marketing Board through state banks.
According to the President’s Vision for Prosperity Policy Statement, the new government giving a higher price to farmers purchased a kilogram of paddy at a guaranteed price of Rs. 50 per kilo during the last Maha season. Paddy warehouses of the Paddy Marketing Board have been opened throughout the country to purchase paddy at the same guaranteed price this Yala season as well.
In previous years Yala and Maha seasons paddy harvest was purchased from farmers at Rs. 38 per kg of Nadu paddy and Rs. 41 per kg of Samba paddy. Under the new government’s paddy procurement program all paddy varieties will be purchased at a guaranteed price of Rs. 50 per kg of paddy.
