Bumper harvest eases short supply:

Rice prices come down

Irangika RANGE

The prices of rice have been slashed with the arrival of adequate rice stocks at the Maradagahamula rice wholesale centre as a result of the bountiful paddy harvest in the current Maha season.

Wholesale price	

		Previous	Present

Super Samba	Rs. 72		Rs. 62
Steam Samba	Rs. 80		Rs. 65
Nadu		Rs. 64		Rs. 49
White Raw Rice	Rs. 63		Rs. 47
Red Raw Rice	Rs. 65		Rs. 54

Maradagahamula Traders Association’s President V.K. Ranjith told the Daily News that ample rice stocks started to arrive in the Maradagahamula centre in the last few days. They will be continuously supplied to rice markets islandwide.

He said that a massive output of paddy from Ampara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Puttalam, Batticaloa and Anuradhapura are daily supplied to the Maradagahamula rice wholesale market and these stocks are flowing into the markets across the country without any delay.

Traders in Maradagahamula have predicted a further decline in rice prices. Ranjith said that the rice crisis has been fully addressed and that rice is being sold at the government ceiling price and lower than that without any shortages.

He said that wholesale prices of super samba, steam samba, nadu, white raw rice (sudu kekulu) and red raw rice (rathu kekulu) have come down to Rs.62, Rs.65, Rs.49, Rs.47 and Rs.54 respectively.

These varieties including super samba, steam samba, nadu, white raw rice and red raw rice were earlier sold at higher prices of Rs.72, Rs.80, Rs.64, Rs.63 and Rs.65 respectively.

These varieties are of high quality and well-cleaned rice are without stones and sands. He further said that both wholesale traders and retailers have now started to come direct to them. This has resulted in supplying sufficient rice stocks to the countrywide markets enabling consumers to purchase rice at lower prices.

He said that the Maradagahamula mills are continuously engaged in purchasing paddy from the Anuradhapura , Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Trincomalee, Puttalam Districts including the North and East.

Meanwhile, a spokesman from the Pettah Wholesale Traders Association said that rice prices which escalated to a peak few months ago, started to decline with the government permitting the importation of a limited quota of rice and the bumper paddy crops harvested under the current Maha season.

He said that rice would flow smoothly into the market due to the massive paddy crops that were cultivated in many districts including the North and East.

He said that wholesale prices of white raw rice, red raw rice, nadu, samba have been reduced to Rs. 40, Rs.50, Rs.50 and Rs. 65 in the Pettah rice market.