(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – During a discussion held with the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera Wednesday (Feb 22) regarding the purchase of maize grown by farmers during the Maha season, the livestock producers have agreed to pay a price of 160 rupees for 1 kg of high quality maize.
The livestock producers in a discussion before the start of the 2022/23 season have promised to buy maize at a price of 160 rupees per kilogram to encourage the farmers in the country to grow maize.
However, the farmers claim that even though maize harvesting has started, they are still not getting a proper price for their crops.
Taking this fact into consideration, the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera emphasized that in order to give a good price to the farmers for the maize grown in this country and to encourage them to grow maize, they should be given a high price for their products.
In this Maha season, 65,000 hectares of maize have been planted, and the expected yield is 135,000 metric tons. Also, 130,000 hectares are planned to be cultivated in both the Yala and Maha seasons of 2023, and the expected yield is 03 lakh 300,000 metric tons.
The annual requirement of maize in the country is nearly 500,000 metric tons.
The livestock producers emphasized that the maize in Sri Lanka is very suitable for animal feed and they are of high quality.
Therefore, as promised, the industrialists agreed to the minister to buy a kilogram of high quality maize crop at 160 rupees.
