Govt spends Rs.1,142 m for Maha paddy harvest purchase
 

BY UDITHA Kumarasinghe

THE Government has spent a record Rs.1,142 million for purchasing the 2004/2005 Maha paddy harvest of 71,592.76 metric tons.

The national level paddy purchasing program implemented by the Government was implemented through paddy purchasing centres set up in 17 districts.

"This is the largest ever sum spent by any Government to purchase paddy from farmers. The previous highest sum allocated to purchase the Maha paddy harvest was Rs.487.70 million in 2003,"

Agriculture and Lands Deputy Minister Bimal Ratnayake told the Daily News. According to the Deputy Minister this year's Maha season marked the country's biggest ever bumper Maha harvest yielding over 1.9 million metric tons. The previous highest Maha yield was 1.8 million metric tons in 2003/2004.

Compared with the previous Maha season, this year's Maha yield has recorded a considerable increase.

It also witnessed an increase in yield from 80 bushels per acre to 130 bushels. The chief reason attributed to this record yield is the initiatives taken by the Government to cultivate a large number of abandoned paddy lands while providing the fertiliser subsidy to farmers and reducing their production cost, he said.

He noted that the release of such a huge paddy stock to the market would lead to a rapid decrease in paddy prices in the local market.

The Agrarian Services Department, Co-operative Development Department, MARKFED and Farmer Societies are successfully conducting this national level paddy purchasing exercise throughout the country.

The Treasury has allocated Rs. 1280 million to purchase the Maha paddy harvest in 17 districts which include Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Kurunegala, Hambantota, Badulla, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya. Of this Rs. 1280 million, Rs.1142 million has already been utilised to purchase 71,592.76 metric tons of paddy from these 17 districts.

The largest amount of Rs. 435 million has been allocated to purchase 21,315.10 metric tons of paddy in the Polonnaruwa district.

The Government will continue its paddy purchasing exercise. The Government purchases a Kilo of `Samba' paddy at Rs.16.50 and a Kilo of 'Nadu' paddy at Rs. 15.50.