Government plans purchase of 370,000 MT of paddy

Wednesday, 22 January 2020 02:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government plans to purchase and place in storage nearly 370,000 MT of paddy from the anticipated harvest, with the aim of converting 65% of the stock into rice which will be released to the market.

The Paddy Purchasing Board (PPB) and the Department of Co-operative Development (DCD) will increase paddy purchases this year in line with the Government’s plan to control prices and expand the paddy market in Sri Lanka by selling through Lanka Sathosa outlets, said Sathosa CEO Dushmantha Thotawatta in a press release.

Under the plan, the PPB will purchase 300,000 MT of paddy during the ‘Yala’ season while the DCD will purchase 70,000 MT, which will be put in storage. According to Thotawatta, only 48,000 MT of paddy was put in storage last year.

Sathosa plans to control the price of rice and have adequate stocks to meet consumer needs by converting the paddy placed in storage, he added. Sathosa plans to process the paddy and anticipates it will give the organisation an estimated 273,750 MT of rice to bring to the market.

The Government aims to issue rice stocks to the public at a low retail price through the Lanka Sathosa outlets, Thotawatta added.