Thursday May 21, 2026
Thursday May 21, 2026
Thursday, 21 May 2026 05:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
In a bid to protect local farmers from price pressure during the peak harvest season in the Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts, the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved a new Government-backed potato purchasing scheme.
The decision comes amid concerns that middlemen and wholesale buyers have imposed farmgate prices ranging between Rs. 200 and Rs. 220 per kilogram for locally produced potatoes at the start of the harvest season, with authorities warning that prices could decline further as supply volumes increase in the coming weeks.
“To safeguard farmer incomes and strengthen the local supply of essential food items, the Government has decided to expand direct State intervention through the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE), known as,” Minister Vijitha Herath said at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing on Tuesday.
Under the approved mechanism, he said the CWE will directly purchase potatoes from local farmers and distribute the stocks to Lanka Sathosa Ltd., for sale through its islandwide retail outlet network.
According to the proposal, purchases under the scheme will be capped at a maximum of 1,000 kilograms per farmer.
Sri Lanka currently imposes a special commodity levy of Rs. 80 per kilogram on imported potatoes as part of broader efforts to protect domestic producers and stabilise rural agricultural incomes
The joint proposal to this effect was submitted by Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation Minister K.D. Lalkantha and Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe.
