Features
Are rice consumers and farmers victims of current practices?
by Neville Ladduwahetty
One of the subjects President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is responsible for is agriculture. On the other hand, subjects such as food security and health that are related and dependent on agriculture come under the purview of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. Consequently, the production and distribution of agricultural products have a bearing on access to food at affordable prices to ensure not only food security but also on poverty and malnutrition. Thus, responsibility for the welfare and wellbeing of the majority of Sri Lankans depend on the joint efforts of the President and the Prime Minister.
An area that will have a significant bearing on the above is the production and distribution of rice. This topic is addressed in a well-researched article titled “RICE MONOPOLY Continues to Put Farmers and Consumers in Peril” by Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka (Daily Mirror, Sept 25. 2024). This article confirms that consumers and farmers are victimised not only due to shortages in production but also by the current practices that are permitted to operate with regard to the production and distribution of rice.
RICE PRODUCTION
The aforesaid article says the per capita rice consumption is approximately 125 kg per year. Furthermore, it states that during a conversation the author had with a former Director of Agriculture, K.B. Gunaratne, he had commented that despite the fact that there were variations during COVID, Sri Lanka must produce an additional 2.4 million metric tons annually”.
The argument that Sri Lanka is self-sufficient in rice does not hold water. Therefore, since the current shortfalls have a bearing on market prices which in turn have a bearing on health, poverty and malnutrition, price variations should be avoided. It is therefore imperative that rice production be increased and stocks monitored regularly to ensure that sufficient stocks are available at any time because shortfalls are often the cause to justify increasing market prices.
Increasing paddy production could be achieved either by advanced technologies or by bringing more land under cultivation. Since the latter approach would involve an increase in infrastructure and maintenance costs, it would be more prudent to resort to advanced technologies because human capital and related infrastructure are already available. Furthermore, the former approach is likely to bear not only faster results but also more income to the farmer through increased yields.
CURRENT PRACTICES
The article cited above states: “In the past large-scale paddy mill owners sold rice at Rs. 220 per kilogram, based on the government’s guaranteed price. Meanwhile, smaller mill owners sold the same rice for Rs. 160-175 per kilogram. This allowed large scale mill owners to make a profit of Rs. 60-75 per kilogram of rice. They earned significant profits from paddy purchased at low prices. Although the government set a guaranteed price of Rs. 100 per kilogram of paddy, some large-scale mill owners bought it for as low as Rs. 70-80. It is no secret that purchasing hundreds of thousands of kilos of paddy at low prices and storing it led to massive profits ….
According to the National Institute of Post-Harvest Management, a large-scale mill owner earns at least 4 million in profit per day, which amounts to Rs. 120 million per month … To produce one kilogram of Nadu rice, about 1.5 kilograms of paddy are required”. This is so with other varieties as well. Thus, on average, nearly 2/3 of rice is produced from 1 kilogram of paddy.
“The cost of producing one kilogram of rice, including expenses such as machinery, electricity, labour and distribution is approximately 25 rupees. Given the government’s guaranteed price of 100 rupees per kilogram of paddy, rice can be sold to consumers at 160-175 rupees per kilogram. However, in the current market, a kilogram of rice is sold at 220 rupees”.
With due respect, there appears to be an inaccuracy in the conclusion that “rice can be sold to consumers at 160-175 rupees per kilo”. If as stated in the article cited above, 1.5 kilos of paddy are required to produce 1 kilo of rice and the guaranteed price is Rs. 100 for a kilo of paddy, it means a farmer would need Rs. 150 to produce 1 kilo of rice. To this, if Rs. 25 is added as the cost of production as stated in the article, the bare cost without profit would be Rs. 175. Therefore, the comment that “rice can be sold to the consumer at 160-175 rupees per kilogram” needs to be revisited.
STRATEGY for the IMMEDIATE
What is evident from the foregoing is that the higher the guaranteed price for paddy, the greater is the benefit to the farmer because of increased income. On the other hand, high guaranteed prices for paddy results in high prices for the consumer. What is demonstrated above is that with a guaranteed price of Rs. 100 for paddy, the price to the consumer has to be close to Rs. 200 and above. Another fact demonstrated is that a high guaranteed price to the Farmer and an affordable price to the consumer is an incompatible proposition. Consequently, the challenge is how the farmer could earn a worthwhile income while ensuring that the consumer has access to rice at an affordable price.
A fact that influences this challenge is the availability of paddy surpluses soon after each harvest. The large-scale millers have financial capacities and infrastructural resources to buy large stocks following each harvest at low prices and store the paddy. Consequently, farmers are at their mercy. Such advantages are not available to small and medium scale Mill owners. However, the Agriculture Department reports that it is “set to provide a maximum loan amount of Rs. 50 million rupees for small and medium scale rice mill owners and maximum loan amount of Rs. 25 million rupees for paddy storers and collectors through state and private banks…” (Dept. of Agriculture Report).
An alternative proposed by All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) Convener Namal Karunaratne speaking to The Sunday Morning (June 25, 2023) is “that prices could be reduced if production cost was reduced… For instance, to reduce production costs, farmers’ equipment and gear need to be freed from taxes. Fertiliser prices need to be reduced. If production costs are reduced to about Rs. 60 a kilo of paddy can be sold for Rs. 80-90. The responsibility for this is in the hands of the government.”
Similar concepts have been in operation since 2000 by The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) of the US Department of Agriculture. FSFL provides low-interest financing so producers can build or upgrade permanent and portable storage facilities and equipment. Eligible commodities include grains, oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, hay, hemp, honey, renewable biomass commodities, fruits and vegetables, floriculture, hops, maple sap, maple syrup, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, eggs, meat/poultry (unprocessed), rye and aquaculture. Eligible facility types include grain bins, hay barns, bulk tanks, and facilities for cold storage.
Drying and handling and storage equipment is also eligible, including storage and handling trucks. Eligible facilities and equipment may be new or used, permanently affixed or portable. Since its inception in May 2000, more than 33,000 loans have been issued for on-farm storage, increasing storage capacity by 900 million bushels.
FSFL is an excellent financing programme for on-farm storage and handling for small and mid-sized farms, and for new farmers. Loan terms vary from 3 to 12 years. The maximum loan amount for storage facilities is $500,000. The maximum loan amount for storage and handling trucks is $100,000. In 2016 FSA introduced a new loan category, the microloan, for loans with an aggregate balance up to $50,000. Microloans offer a 5 percent down-payment requirement, compared to a 15 percent down-payment for a regular FSFL, and waive the regular three-year production history requirement.
CONCLUSION
The clear objective of any government has been to ensure a healthy income to the paddy farmer and rice at an affordable price to the Consumer. Achieving such an objective means improving the welfare and wellbeing of nearly a third of the population who are engaged in production and improving the health of the whole nation with an impact on poverty.
A variety of opinions and proposals have been expressed and explored over the years to realize the objective stated above. Most of them involve the intervention of the Government in one way or another. For instance, one way is for the Government to control 10% of paddy production to stabilize production and to provide financial benefits in one form or another to reduce costs.
One form of financial assistance considered has been to provide loans to establish small and medium scale Mills and storage facilities throughout the country; a strategy adopted by the US Department of Agriculture. Another form has been to subsidize fertilizer and other inputs required in the production of paddy. Yet another is to establish guaranteed prices for paddy; a strategy that favours the Farmer but not the Consumer, as stated above.
None of these options have proved satisfactory, as far as achieving the desired objectives are concerned. The reason perhaps is because strategies proposed are from the perspectives of the Farmer or the Consumer and not from a holistic perspective of both. Therefore, the strong recommendation is that a Forensic Audit is conducted to ascertain the most effective strategy or strategies to meet the interests of both Farmer and Consumer.
However, what is needed in the immediate term is for the Government to engage with the large-scale mill owners and the representatives of the All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation to establish a sustainable compromise arrangement that serves the interests of both the Farmer and Consumer because at the end of the day, their interests affect the wellbeing, health and food security of the whole nation, the responsibility for which rests jointly with the President and the Prime Minister.
At a time when the US is veering towards a policy of international isolation, it augurs well for international growth that Africa is emanating signs of stepping up intra-continental cooperation. Above all, Africa is in the process of proving that she could ‘stand-alone’ and be relatively autonomous in her ground-breaking growth drive.
Of course such epochal developments should not be construed as meaning that Africa would sooner rather than later be rid of the socio-political and economic bottlenecks that have been dogging her at heel for decades. What they mean is that she is managing these problems in a consistently constructive fashion currently.
We in South Asia in particular need to take note of these developments. This is mainly in view of the fact that SAARC is non-functional. It is not ‘dead’, as a former President of Sri Lanka tried to have us believe, but its virtual paralytic state at present should have discerning sections in the region concerned. It is robust regional cooperation in the fields that matter that helps a country in its growth and development and if SAARC is dysfunctional this is a serious setback for Sri Lanka and the region.
Closer integration into BIMSTEC and ASEAN is certainly desirable but if governments are having Sri Lanka’s best interests at heart it is primarily to the SAARC region that they need to look. For instance, how Sri Lanka is hoping to further its growth prospects by not factoring in stepped-up and positive economic interaction with India and Pakistan, for example, is incomprehensible.
There is a strong regional dimension to any country’s economic growth and unless the relevant regional cooperative mechanisms are rendered operational, the desired level of national development could not be achieved in full. Hence the need to render SAARC fully operational once again.
However, unless and until governments of the region realize the urgency of meeting the above challenge, SAARC would remain in a state inertia. The pressing need is visionary political leadership at the regional level. Right now this is seriously lacking.
It would seem inappropriate and misleading at first blush to attempt to draw comparisons between the vast continent of Africa and the South Asian region in view of the latter’s comparative geographical smallness, but this is more so why Africa’s present exercises in intra-continental cooperation need to be positivey assessed. If Africa could be making some headway in intra-regional cooperation, given her ‘Giant’ status and her seeming unmanageability as a collectivity, why can’t South Asia, a comparatively physically small region? ‘This is the Question’.
While the above and connected matters of importance for regional growth need to be seriously studied by political leaders and policymakers of South Asia, they would be acting in the regional interest by taking a leaf or two out of Africa’s book of cooperative growth and development.
All watchers of international development should feel compelled to take a hard, discerning look at the 38th African Union (AU) Summit held in Addis Ababa, beginning February 15th this year. Interestingly, the Summit theme was, ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.’
Coincidentally, erstwhile Namibian leader Dr. Sam Nujoma passed away on the eve of the Summit. Nujoma was perhaps the last of those prominent leaders from Africa who doggedly championed the cause of the libration of his country and of the continent from the shackles of colonialism. More leaders of his ilk are required by the South in general and Africa in particular.
While the acquiring of ‘reparations’ for colonialism’s ravages could prove a very long-gestation project, it is vitally important for Africa and other regions that came under colonial control to keep the issue constantly in focus.
Meanwhile, Africa’s gains in economic cooperation under the AU need to be studied appreciatively by the South and other regions in their interests. Some of the achievements of the AU under the aegis of the African Development Bank (ADB), as outlined by outgoing president of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina at the Summit were: ‘515 million African lives were transformed over the past decade, including 231 million women, 127 million people gained access to better services in terms of health, 61 million people gained access to clean water, 33 million people benefited from improved sanitation, 46 million people gained access to ICT services, 25 million people gained access to electricity.’
Reports said that the Summit also, among other things, adopted the ‘African Financing Stability Mechanism’. Under this arrangement, $20 billion in debt refinancing will be provided for African nations. This will happen alongside the adoption of the ‘Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa Report’.
The Report outlines key actions for Africa to ‘Achieve and sustain an annual growth rate of at least 7% of GDP over the next 5 decades.’
The above are a few aims that the AU intends to achieve going forward for the whole of Africa. But they are sufficient evidence of the current effectiveness of the collective organization. We see here a notable example in South-South cooperation which is a dire need today in the developing world.
South-South cooperation is the way to go particularly in consideration of the US’ current policy of virtually ridding itself of the past policy of helping the South by way of development assistance. Instead of bemoaning the fact that institutions, such as USAID, will be almost no more, the South would do well to take a hard look at Africa’s success stories in helping itself with little or no external assistance.
The discontinuation of US assistance needs to be seen as the proverbial ‘blessing in disguise’ by the South. Here is an opportunity for the Southern hemisphere to finally rid itself of those neo-colonial umbilical binds that have been preventing it from achieving genuine national liberation.
To be sure, the South is not going to meet with spectacular success by adopting the African model in the near term. But if the model is doggedly persisted with by enlightened governments of the South some success is certain to accure to the hitherto ‘Wretched of the Earth’, going forward.
While most of our pageant winners get involved in frivolous activities, during their reign, the 40th Mrs. World pageant winner, Tshego Gaelae, from South Africa, is keen to bring into the spotlight her country’s potential.
Before her departure for the Mrs. World pageant, held in Las Vegas, in the USA, in January, the Lawyer, Entrepreneur, Model and Digital Creator, said:
“I’m so excited to be sent not only as a delegate but a representative of those hopeful hearts that always want to see South Africa’s potential shine and win. I stand on the shoulders of icons, world champions, the Queens that have gone ahead of me, and of the world leaders that continue to ensure our global participation and impact.
“Thank you everyone for the support so far!”
A coke and a smile…with Sprite Cucumber her pick
Referring to the interview for the position of Mrs. World, Gaelae said: “We get to bring our most authentic self to advocate for the causes we want to advance through the most prestigious platform that is the Mrs World Pageant. What an honour to have such experienced judges who care to hear about what I want to achieve.”
The lead up to the prestigious Mrs. World event was doubly exciting for Gaelae as she got the opportunity to display not only her country’s creations but also check out certain nostalgic venues.
“We received the honour of being at the Elvis penthouse suite, at the Westgate Vegas! The space is spectacularly filled with iconic and historic presence, fit for the king that was Elvis Presley.”
The Mrs World participants spent an evening honouring Victoria’s Voice Foundation and Gaelae’s gift to the Foundation was a canvas shirt with President Nelson Mandela’s face printed on it. The shirt can either be worn or displayed in a frame, and Gaelae says she is so glad to have had the opportunity to present a piece of her beloved South Africa.”
The bangles she gifted to all the participants at the Mrs. World pageant
Gaelae went on to say: “I always joke about being Zulu in my past life, but on a serious note, I love the Zulu Culture so much, that I gifted my Mrs. World Pageant Sisters some beautiful bangles.”
They also visited the special Coca-Cola Store in Vegas, and got to taste some interesting flavours. And Gaelae’s pick … “Sprite Cucumber definitely wins for me.”
Mrs. World enthusiastically said that one of the biggest gifts she received out of her Mrs South Africa journey was that of sisterhood, “and it’s so amazing to come to the Mrs. World pageant and find it once again,” she went on to say.
“My roommate was the gorgeous Ishadi Amanda from Sri Lanka! We bonded with no delay, and laughed till we cried! I was literally paired with a sister from another mother.”
Tshego Gaelae also had a special comment to make regarding the article we published about her in The Island of 6th February, 2025.
“Thank you so much for the beautiful article and coverage.”
Hi! This week, too, I’m giving you some easy to prepare tips to help you achieve all that is good for your skin.
* Cucumber and Lemon:
Mix equal parts cucumber and lemon juice and apply the mixture on your face (avoiding eyes). Allow it to sit for 10 minutes and then rinse it off. This natural face beauty tip will brighten your skin tone and lighten blemishes, if used on a regular basis. The best aspect is that it is appropriate for all skin types!
* Tomatoes:
Scoop up the pulp of one tomato and apply it evenly on your face. Allow it to dry for 15 minutes before washing it off with warm water … to reveal a naturally radiant skin.
* Green Tea:
After steeping green tea in hot water for about 05 minutes, allow the tea to cool. Transfer the tea to a spray bottle and spray, in short bursts, or place a little amount onto a cotton pad and pat on your face after thoroughly cleaning it.
* Chilled Tea Bags:
A chilled black or green tea bag does wonders for your skin. This natural face beauty technique may rapidly reduce puffiness around the eyes, making them appear brighter and more alert. Place the tea bags on your eyelids and relax for 05 to 15 minutes while they perform their magic.
* Honey:
Applying a small amount of honey to your face every day is an excellent approach to getting healthy, bright skin. Honey’s absorbing properties draw out pollutants from skin pores and help completely cleanse your skin. Honey’s antibacterial effects heal and prevent acne. Honey’s antimicrobial qualities soothe skin irritation and protect skin from bacterial infections. Honey, has remarkable moisturising effects and is also a terrific relief for dry skin.
* Coffee:
Exfoliating on a regular basis improves the appearance of your skin, making it look younger and healthier. For those who enjoy coffee, a homemade coffee scrub is all the weekly nourishment your skin requires. Coffee’s anti-inflammatory qualities minimize redness, irritation, and acne. All you need to do is mix freshly ground coffee beans, coconut oil, and brown sugar to your desired consistency in a bowl. Massage gently in circular strokes over your face, then rinse with warm water. After using an exfoliant, always moisturise.
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Proper Economic Management Expected to Restore Debt Repayment Capacity by 2028 – President
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