The Hon. Rohana Bandara
Rohana Bandara urged the Government to ensure fairness to both consumers and farmers in paddy purchasing, including action if a 50 kg bag exceeds Rs. 9,000. He asked how much paddy the Paddy Marketing Board plans to buy and whether funds will be available without delay from the Treasury. He also raised the practical issue of high moisture levels after machine harvesting, noting farmers lack facilities to dry paddy to 14 per cent, and requested a mechanism to address drying and prevent distress sales.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Minister. We pray it happens that way. Please ensure fairness to both consumers and farmers. If a 50 kg paddy bag exceeds Rs. 9,000, act fairly. How much do you plan to purchase? Often the Board lacks funds and waits for Treasury releases. Be ready now. Also, a practical problem: even when funds are allocated, paddy does not come to stores because moisture remains high after machine harvesting. There are no practical systems to dry to 14% moisture; farmers lack space to dry; grain gets spoiled, forcing quick sales. How much do you plan to buy, and what is the mechanism and practical solution for drying?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 18 December 2024 ·No. 1735286612086554 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/12073
Cite as: The Hon. Rohana Bandara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 December 2024. No. 1735286612086554. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12073