The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation
The Deputy Minister rejected claims that the Government had not engaged with farmers, citing the Rs. 120 per kilogram paddy minimum price, activation of Paddy Marketing Board procurement, and the increase in fertilizer support from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000. He said the PMB had been revived from a poor operational and financial position through reopening and repairing stores, using alternative storage and staff arrangements, and providing security where needed, though some wet paddy had sold below the target price. He stated that these measures helped prevent a collapse in farmgate prices and that further steps would include adding dryers, improving storage technology, introducing updated rice cultivation packages, addressing fertilizer payment issues, and exploring government-to-government fertilizer procurement with China.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, claims that we did not engage with farmers are untrue. We set a Rs. 120/kg minimum for paddy and activated PMB procurement. We raised fertilizer support from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000. Our goals were to stabilize paddy and rice prices. PMB has received stocks in various locations; in some places, wet paddy fetched a bit below Rs. 120—we acknowledge this.
¶ 02 When we took over, PMB was dilapidated: no milling for four years, virtually no usable stores, only one lorry, and Rs. 28 billion in debt; staff shortages, accounts not closed for years. We allocated funds, reopened 123 stores, and enlisted the Army to repair depots rapidly; 80 more stores will be readied next year, targeting about 200 in total. Where PMB stores filled up, we used farmers’ organization stores, e.g., Vahalkada; where Rajanganaya PMB could not be fixed, we moved paddy to Thalawa. Lacking PMB staff, we drew officers from Divisional Secretariats and farmer organizations. We obtained Civil Security Department protection when threats arose.
¶ 03 Absent these measures, farmgate prices would have collapsed and farmers might have burned paddy. Last Maha, farmers received the best prices in years; hence they cultivated more this Yala, and harvests are good in many areas like Batticaloa. Fertilizer support did face delays or misuse in some instances; we are taking legal and administrative action and have corrected process gaps.
¶ 04 We will further strengthen PMB: add dryers under a pilot next year and build improved storage with better technology. We are working with the Department of Agriculture to introduce updated technology packages for rice (e.g., model “Yaya 2” demonstrations), improve nutrient management, and correct practices degraded during the forced organic-only shift, which reduced yields.
¶ 05 On inputs, we are pursuing the best procurement options, including Government-to-Government arrangements with China for fertilizer and addressing agrochemical availability and quality.
¶ 06 Thank you.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 10 September 2025 ·No. 1758017450079419 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 10 September 2025. No. 1758017450079419. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/10784