Agriculture Minister: Some millers make Rs. 50 bn in profit per cultivation season

By Saman Indrajith

Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told Parliament yesterday that the country’s leading rice millers were making 50 billion rupees in profits in a single cultivation season.

Participating in the debate on the promulgation of emergency laws by the President, the Minister said there was a mafia of four or five top millers. “Their profit in a single season is 50 billion rupees. During the last two seasons, the paddy farmers produced around 5.3 million kilos of paddy from which 3.2 million metric tonnes of rice could be produced. The top millers bought nadu paddy at 55 rupees a kilo from farmers and are selling it at 125 rupees a kilo. Samba paddy was bought at 60 rupees and sold at 160 rupees. Keeri samba paddy was bought at 60 to 65 rupees. They sold keeri samba at 225 rupees,” the minister said.

The Minister said that the objective of the emergency regulations to control essential food prices were not due to a food shortage but to control the food mafia from exploiting the current situation. “There isn’t any food shortage in the country. It is not a food shortage but a food mafia. The new emergency regulations are to control this mafia,” he said.

The minister said 800,000 hectares of land had been under paddy cultivation in the last ‘Maha’ and ‘Yala’ cultivation seasons and the country would have around 3.2 million metric tonnes of rice once all paddy was converted. “There is no shortage of rice. We have no problem of feeding the people of this country. We also get 2.5 to 3 million metric tonnes of vegetables to economic centres every day. So I can say there is no rice or vegetable shortage,” he said.

SJB MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said those millers were close supporters of the government and some were related to government rank MPs. “Two of the biggest rice millers are inside the parliament. The other main person is the brother of an MP. They are all with the government. Why can’t you catch them?” MP Madduma Bandara queried.