The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Shritharan, for raising this. As you said, heavy rains in the North and East have caused serious damage. People now wish to sell paddy quickly. We have already directed pledge loans for small millers, cooperatives and major millers, and releases have begun so they can immediately purchase paddy—even accepting higher-moisture “wet” paddy up to around 27 percent, beyond the usual 18–22 percent. It is difficult, but they are buying.

¶ 02 However, this reveals a systemic issue: while vehicles, buildings and lives are insured, the farmer’s crop—on which the nation’s staple depends—has no proper insurance. Through the cooperative movement’s insurance company, we will introduce a crop insurance mechanism. Although crop insurance funds were plundered by former ministers and MPs, this Government has decided to compensate those with verified crop losses. Next week I will convene the cooperative insurance officials to finalize a scheme so farmers can cover cultivation losses. We are preparing a programme to protect the farmer.

¶ 03 Question put, and agreed to.