Govt.’s Purchasing Mechanism Criticized
Farmers in Polonnaruwa complain of difficulties in selling their paddy harvest due to failures in the government paddy purchasing mechanism.
The Progressive Farmers’ Association in Polonnaruwa has complained that the Polonnaruwa Paddy Marketing Board has failed to make payments to farmers after purchasing their paddy compelling farmers to sell their harvest to private traders at lower prices.
The farmers have called on the government to implement a proper mechanism to purchase paddy that would not put the farmers in difficulty.
Head of the Association M.K. Jayatissa has said farmer who sell their paddy harvest to the Paddy Marketing Board or the Multi-purpose Cooperatives have to wait for a long period to receive the cash for their goods.
According to Jayatissa, farmers in Polonnaruwa had sold paddy worth Rs. 11.6 million to the Kaudulla Cooperative Society from the Yala harvest, but the cooperative society had so far paid only Rs. 400,000 for the stock of paddy.
He has said that farmers have to therefore sell their paddy to private traders at Rs. 20-21 per kilo incurring a loss.