Farmers demand fair price for their paddy, threaten street protests

Paddy farmers have warned the government that they will launch a mass protest campaign, like Aragalaya, unless a certified price for their produce is announced forthwith. Addressing a media briefing yesterday, Ravindra Jagoda of the Rajarata Govi Sanvidana Ekamuthuwa expressed disappointment at the government’s actions. He noted that the government had reportedly decided on a certified price of Rs 115 per kilogram for nadu paddy, but it was not adequate.

President of the United Rice Millers’ Association Muditha Perera told the media yesterday that the government was dilly-dallying, unable to announce the certified prices for paddy it had decided—Rs. 115 for nadu and Rs. 120 for samba. The Cabinet was expected to announce the prices shortly, he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne said at an NPP rally over the weekend that the government would work out a fair price shortly and ensure that the paddy farmers would get a 30% profit for their produce.

Farmers are demanding at least Rs. 140 per kilo of paddy. They are complaining that rice millers purchase their paddy at low prices, ranging from Rs. 80 to Rs. 100. They cannot even recover the production costs by selling paddy at those prices, they say.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has criticised the government for not ensuring a certified price for paddy. Speaking at a public rally in Kurunegala, over the weekend, Premadasa said the government had let down the farmers badly, having obtained their votes to win elections. He urged the government to announce a fair price for paddy and provide the subsidised fertiliser without delay. “They promised to bring in new legislation to ensure that farmers would get fair prices and promised Rs 150 per kilo of paddy,” he said. “But in the midst of the harvesting season, the government hasn’t declared a certified price.”

Premadasa said that although the government claimed to have allocated Rs 5 billion for paddy purchases, it had not instructed the Paddy Marketing Board to buy paddy from farmers.

He also raised concerns about several red-labelled containers recently released from the Colombo Port without Customs inspection. “Who authorised their release? The government insists that there has been NO wrongdoing and that the containers carried no illegal goods, but how they can make such claims without even inspecting the containers,” he said.

SJB MP and Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance Dr. de Silva told the media yesterday that he believed that the certified price should be raised to Rs 130 rupees per kilo of rice.