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Puttalam farmers charge Govt. doing little while they are forced to sell paddy at low prices
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Paddy farmers in the Puttalam district complain that private traders were manipulating paddy prices and that they were being deprived of the actual value for their crop of the current Yala harvest.
The harvest generated after hard labour is being bought at low prices by middlemen employed by large-scale rice mill owners, they complain.
So far, 17865 hectares have been cultivated.
Thushara Kottukachchiya
Ashoka Pathiraja
The Government has no plan to purchase the paddy under a guaranteed price, the farmers charged. Due to the Government’s poor purchasing plan they have no option but to sell their paddy to unscrupulous middlemen.
They are forced to sell their paddy at Rs. 65 to 70 per a kilo.
In addition the farmers are faced with the threat of rampaging elephants and they wage a daily battle to save their crops. After all that they are forced to sell their paddy at low prices that don’t even cover the cost of cultivation.
“We have asked for Rs. 130 a kilogram. The price of paddy after its process stands at Rs. 220 when it is sold by large-scale rice mill owners. But Government officials turn a blind eye to this,” pointed out H.M. Piyasena, Secretary of the Puttalam region’s All Island Agrarian Services Union. 
Another farmer Thushara Kottukachchiya said: “We undergo immense hardships, especially due to threat of crop damage by wild animals.”
Ashoka Pathiraja of Tabbowa said: “I cultivate several acres of paddy. The expenditure on cultivation is also rising. We are desperate.”
Meanwhile District Secretary H.M.S.P. Herath stressed there was no plan to purchase paddy during this season. He said the Treasury has not formulated a scheme. If such a plan is formed, we are all set to deal with Paddy Marketing Board.”
Text and pix by
Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
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