The Hon. Kins Nelson

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, the Government announced two guaranteed prices this Yala: Rs. 102/kg for wet paddy and Rs. 120/kg for dried. Did PMB receive adequate quantities? In Polonnaruwa, only about 3,667 MT have reached PMB depots. Farmers did not bring sufficient stocks; offering Rs. 102 for wet paddy, unprecedented historically, made it easy for large millers to buy cheaply and dump low-quality grain.

¶ 02 Hon. Namal Karunaratne once stated at Aralaganwila that paddy costs justified Rs. 150/kg procurement then. Today, while urea has fallen from Rs. 50,000 to about Rs. 10,000 per bag, other costs rose: per-acre fertilizer support went from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000; harvesting rose from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 18,000 per acre; fuel remains high. Farmers in this Yala lost about Rs. 75,000 per hectare compared to Maha. If Rs. 154/kg was fair then, today’s fair price should be around Rs. 170/kg. The claim of Rs. 68/kg production cost in Polonnaruwa is unrealistic; it is at least Rs. 112–113/kg there.

¶ 03 Even with a Rs. 120 guaranteed price and Rs. 102 for wet paddy, PMB did not actually buy wet paddy; farmers were forced to sell to private buyers. We must also restore farmer confidence—deploy state banks with special credit so farmers need not depend on local moneylenders. If inputs and water come on time, your price can be fair.

¶ 04 Farmers are under pressure from human–elephant conflict too. They have not flooded streets; they are struggling silently. We, representing Polonnaruwa, must voice their plight here and ensure a fair Maha purchase.

¶ 05 Thank you.