Finance Ministry to provide Rs. 30 Bn for paddy purchasing

The Finance Ministry has agreed to provide Rs.30 billion for the purchase of paddy in Maha season, Agriculture, Lands, Livestock, Irrigation, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry Secretary M.P.N.M. Wickramasinghe said.

Wickramasinghe said it will be possible to buy 300,000 metric tonnes of paddy from farmers utilising the money.

The secretary said discussions held with the President were successful and the government will intervene to provide the relevant amount as a concessional loan.

Wickremesinghe says that necessary storage facilities are provided by the warehouses of the Paddy Marketing Board and warehouses of several districts have been directed to renovate for this purpose.

“We will be able to buy paddy at the time of harvesting and quickly turn it into rice and release it to the market. Also, a scheme to keep 10 percent of the rice production as a buffer stock in the warehouses of the Paddy Marketing Board will be started from this season,” he added.

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