Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on Sunday (02) demanded that the NPP government address issues faced by farmers.

“The government must end its theatrics and fulfill its promise of ensuring a fair price for paddy. During the elections, the President pledged to eliminate the rice mafia and guarantee higher prices for farmers. However, these commitments have proven to be empty words,” he has said in a media statement.

In just one month, the government, represented by NPP had misled farmers multiple times with shifting justifications, Premadasa said. The actions of Minister of Agriculture Lal Kantha and Deputy Minister Namal Karunaratne regarding the Maha season paddy harvest clearly demonstrated their failure to ensure a just price for farmers, he added.

“Initially, Deputy Minister Karunaratne assured farmers that a guaranteed price would be set, adding 30% to the production cost. However, on January 11, 2025, he backtracked, saying only a minimum price would be provided. By January 27, he claimed that no price had been set because farmers were supposedly able to sell their paddy without issue.

“Meanwhile, middlemen are exploiting farmers, purchasing wet paddy at Rs. 80-95 per kilo and dry paddy at around Rs. 100. Large-scale mill owners are buying these stocks at higher prices—Rs. 110 for wet paddy, Rs. 135 for dry paddy, Rs. 115 for wet Samba, and Rs. 140 for dry Samba. The absence of a government-set price has allowed this exploitation to continue unchecked.

“Adding to this injustice, both the Minister and Deputy Minister of Agriculture have made threatening statements against farmers. On January 28, Deputy Minister Karunaratne dismissed demands for a fair price, contradicting his earlier stance. The following day, Minister Lal Kantha went further, suggesting that farmers should surrender a portion of their harvest to the government in exchange for fertiliser subsidies.

“The government’s strategy is now evident. Farmers, fearing these threats and lacking storage facilities, are being forced to sell their paddy to middlemen at low prices. Later, the government will set a minimum price—once most farmers have already sold their harvest—allowing officials to claim they offered a fair rate, while in reality, farmers will have no stocks left to benefit from it.

“This deception is already being promoted through pro-government farmer groups on social media, falsely suggesting that farmers are willingly selling to private buyers instead of the government. Meanwhile, the government is using this opportunity to let large-scale mill owners buy paddy at low prices while pretending to have allocated funds for paddy purchases—only to ultimately save Rs. 5 billion at the farmers’ expense.

“The farming community, which feeds the nation, is being betrayed and driven into hardship. We, the opposition, demand that the government immediately provide a fair price of Rs. 140 per kilo, as requested by farmers, in line with the 30% production cost increase promised during the election.

“Furthermore, we urge the government to stop this deceit and establish a mechanism where the state competes with the private sector in purchasing paddy, as promised by the President. Lastly, we call for the immediate fulfillment of the promised additional Rs. 2 per kilo.”