Largest ever sum set apart for paddy purchase:

Govt. earmarks Rs. 1000 m for Maha harvest purchase

BY UDITHA Kumarasinghe

THE Government has released Rs. 1000 million to purchase this year's Maha harvest, the largest ever amount reserved by any Government to purchase paddy from the farmers. The previous highest sum allocated to purchase the Maha paddy harvest was Rs. 487.70 million in 2003.

The national level paddy purchasing program implemented by the Government to purchase the Maha paddy harvest is now being successfully conducted throughout the country.

The Government through its 1338 paddy purchasing centres has already purchased over 55,000 Metric tons of paddy from farmers, an Agriculture Ministry spokesman told the Daily News yesterday.

The Government's national paddy purchasing program is being jointly implemented by the Agriculture, Livestock and Lands Ministry, Agricultural Marketing Development, Co-operative Development and Hindu Affairs Ministry and Finance Ministry to purchase the Maha paddy harvest from farmers.

Meanwhile, the Government through its 1338 purchasing centres purchase a Kilo of Samba paddy at Rs. 16.50 and a Kilo of Nadu paddy for Rs. 15.50. Farmers in the North and East will be paid one rupee more as a `relief measure' considering the hardships encountered by them in the recent past.

In addition, through this paddy purchasing mechanism it is hoped to store 200,000 metric tons of paddy as buffer stocks during this Maha season, the spokesman said.

"The previous highest Maha yield was 1.8 million metric tons in 2003. Compared with the previous Maha season, this year's Maha season has recorded a considerable increase in terms of yield. This year's Maha season has raised the yield from 80 bushels per acre to 130 bushels.

Only Rs.487.70 million had been allocated to purchase the 2003 Maha harvest through 938 purchasing centres. The average price of a kilo of paddy from the previous Maha season was Rs. 13.50."

He said this year's Maha season saw the cultivation of 577,867 hectares of lands while the country has received the biggest ever bumper Maha harvest with nearly two million metric tons of paddy this year.

The chief reason being attributed to this record yield is the key initiatives taken by the UPFA Government to cultivate a large number of abandoned paddy lands while providing the fertiliser subsidy to farmers by reducing their production cost, he said.

"This is a great success achieved by the country's farmer community. In a situation where the contribution of the tourism and fisheries sectors have collapsed due to the tsunami catastrophe, the agriculture sector has lent maximum contribution to the development of the economy," he said.

"At present the Government's paddy purchasing program is being conducted successfully in all agrarian districts in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Hambantota and Ampara.

Only in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, the Agriculture Ministry has set up 400 paddy purchasing centres. If this paddy purchasing program is successful, there is no need to import rice," the spokesman said.

He said the Government for the first time allocated Rs. 156 million to purchase Maha paddy harvest in the North-East including Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts. The Government has also reserved Rs. 44 million to purchase 100,000 bushels of seed paddy.

"The UPFA Government is deeply concerned about safeguarding the country's agricultural sphere. After the UPFA Government assumed office, several measures were taken to uplift the agriculture sector. Nearly 80 per cent of abandoned paddy lands in the Western Province have been cultivated.

Amidst various hardships, the Government allocated Rs. 6800 million for the fertiliser subsidy last year," he said.