The Chairman of the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB), Manjula Pinnalanda, has stated that the PMB plans to commence paddy purchasing from next Monday (13).
Speaking at a press conference held today at the Department of Government Information, he said that paddy purchasing will begin by opening storage facilities in areas where the highest paddy harvests are currently being reaped.
He further noted that, as paddy harvesting has commenced on a large scale in the Northern, Eastern, and Ampara areas, purchasing operations will initially be carried out in those regions.
Pinnalanda stated that the Paddy Marketing Board will purchase paddy at Rs. 120 per kilogram for Nadu, Rs. 130 per kilogram for Samba, and Rs. 140 per kilogram for Keeri Samba. He added that granaries have already been secured for the purpose of paddy purchasing.
Accordingly, arrangements have been made to purchase paddy using 143 storage facilities. He further stated that discussions have also been held to obtain additional private-sector storage facilities in nearby areas in the event that the existing granaries reach full capacity.
The Chairman also said that the government has allocated Rs. 6,000 million to the Paddy Marketing Board, while a further Rs. 10,000 million has been provided under a pledge loan scheme. He noted that these funds will enable small and medium-scale rice millers to store paddy, with the entire operation being supervised by the Department of Agrarian Development.
Speaking further on the paddy purchasing programme and the pledge loan scheme, Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Manjula Pinnalanda stated:
"This time, arrangements have also been made to provide pledge loans to eligible cooperatives. Through this, we aim to secure the government’s buffer stock. The Paddy Marketing Board maintains standardised paddy, as it must be stored as a buffer stock for a certain period. Therefore, we require a moisture content of 14% and a chaff percentage below 9%. These standards are checked before accepting paddy. Another important point is that the Paddy Marketing Board will be purchasing paddy from this particular season. This is our programme."
