A meeting between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and small and medium-scale paddy mill owners was held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (11) to discuss securing the contribution of small and medium-scale businesses towards maintaining a stable price for paddy and ensuring that paddy is purchased from farmers at a fair price.
During the meeting, the mill owners briefed the President on the issues they have encountered in conducting their operations. They also apprised him of difficulties faced in purchasing paddy and in dealing with banks under the Odapana loan scheme.
They proposed establishing a mechanism to provide funds for paddy purchases through District Secretaries or Divisional Secretaries. They pointed out that they have sufficient capacity to purchase paddy and that this would provide an opportunity to ensure a stable price for farmers while also guaranteeing a fair price for consumers.
Commenting on the matter, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe said discussions would be held with District Secretaries on a mechanism to provide loans to small and medium-scale businesses through the District Secretaries for the purchase of paddy.
Accordingly, he said paddy should be purchased from farmers at a minimum price of Rs. 120 per kilogramme, while the maximum quantity that could be purchased from an individual farmer should be 4,000 kilogrammes per hectare. He also stressed that accurate records must be maintained of the quantities of paddy purchased and the farmers concerned, and that these records would be regularly inspected.
The loan scheme is expected to be implemented for currently registered small and medium-scale mill owners. It was also stated that the relevant funds must be repaid to the Government after the rice is sold, while the Government expects to provide similar concessions in future seasons to mill owners who successfully complete the programme.
It was further stated that the cooperation of all small and medium-scale businesses is expected to ensure the success of the programme, and that it should be regarded as a responsible undertaking aimed at safeguarding the country’s food security.
Officials of the Ministry of Finance also explained the issues that had arisen due to the failure to repay loans under similar programmes implemented previously.
Previously, a system was in place under which the Government provided loans to purchase paddy and subsequently purchased the paddy itself. The mill owners welcomed the introduction of a loan scheme for paddy purchases on the President’s instructions.
They expressed confidence that, if the new mechanism is continued, a large number of small and medium-scale paddy mill owners who have currently withdrawn from the industry could return to the sector, while enabling farmers to receive a fair price for their paddy.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha; Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe; Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma; and Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Manjula Pinnalanda, along with officials of the Ministry of Finance and small and medium-scale paddy mill owners representing districts including Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Kandy, Ratnapura, Puttalam, Hambantota, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara, attended the meeting. (PMD)