Govt. plans to procure 120,000 tons of paddy from Yala harvest

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.