Govt. plans to procure 120,000 tons of paddy from Yala harvest
July 18, 2015 03:54 pm
The government of Sri Lanka is planning to procure about 120,000 tons of paddy from farmers during the upcoming secondary ‘yala’ (March - September) harvest.
According to the government spokesman, the Paddy Marketing Board will buy paddy directly from farmers. The Cabinet of Ministers reportedly approved a proposal by the Food Minister to buy the ‘Keeri Samba’ rice variety at Rs.50 per kilogram (around $374 per ton) and ‘Nadu’ rice variety for Rs.45 per kilogram (around $336 per ton), a leading site for rice news, research and analysis, Oryza reported.
The government has allocated Rs.6 billion (around $45 million) for procuring paddy during the 2015 yala season. Sri Lankan government is expecting output from this year’s yala output to increase about 16% from last year. The paddy is expected to reach the market from early August.
