Hon. Namal Karunaratne - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, in response: When we assumed office, the purchase price of Nadu was Rs. 105 per kg; production cost per kg was Rs. 99.75, giving farmers only Rs. 5.25 profit. Currently, production costs for certain varieties, particularly Red Nadu, are lower, and purchasing at Rs. 120 per kg yields better margins.

¶ 02 PMB operates under the Paddy Marketing Board Act No. 14 of 1971. Legally, we can only accept paddy with moisture up to 14 percent; therefore, Act amendments are necessary and are being worked on. Farmers’ key problem is drying at the point of sale. We have begun Government interventions to install dryers. Based on the Hon. Member’s request, two paddy dryers have been installed in Thalawa in his district under Government facilitation. Ampara, as the largest paddy-producing district, will also be covered. We plan to link dryers to PMB warehouses and expand with private sector participation. Although PMB buys at the Government price, farmers sometimes sell at Rs. 80–100 due to lack of drying capacity; our programme aims to resolve this over coming seasons.