The chairman of the Anuradhapura District Joint Farmers’ Organization Punchirala Ratnayake said yesterday (5) that although they are not not satisfied with the price fixed for paddy, he is grateful to the government for finalizing a price for paddy after many delays.
The government officially announced the prices at which the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) will purchase paddy from farmers on Wednesday.
Accordingly, Nadu paddy will be purchased at Rs. 120 per kilogram, Samba paddy will be purchased at Rs. 125 per kilogram and Keeri Samba paddy will be purchased at Rs. 132 per kilogram.
Ratnayake pointed out that the farmers had demanded a price of between Rs. 130 and 140 per kilo of paddy but since this is the first harvest of the current government, they will accept the price set by the government at this time.
Ratnayake however said that he will invite officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and other institutions that set the price for paddy to visit the paddy fields to gain an understanding regarding the price setting, otherwise the government will set a similar price for the next harvest as well.
He said that Agriculture Minister K.D. Lal Kantha made a threatening statement to farmers’ organizations when announcing the paddy price and that he would remind the Minister to refrain from making such statements since the current government was a government that was appointed by the farmers.
Ratnayake said he would also remind the Agriculture Minister that there are over 19,000 farmers’ organizations in the country and he should remember that millions of farmers voted to appoint the current NPP government.
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