Poor Yala season sends paddy prices up

A drop in paddy production in the Yala season by about 50 per cent is forecast due to the continuing drought which has resulted in a rice shortage in the market while paddy prices have shot up, officials said.

The competitive prices paid by private mill owners have resulted in the majority of farmers selling their paddy to large scale mill owners.

A kilo of nadu was sold by farmers at Rs. 45 - 48 this week, while the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) guaranteed price is at Rs. 32 per kilo, Agriculture Ministry Secretary R.M.D.B. Meegasmulla.

Agriculture Ministry estimates of Yala season paddy production to drop down to 40 to 45 percent of the average yield, Mr. Meegasmulla said.

Only fifty percent of 500,000 hectares of land that are usually cultivated during Yala season was cultivated this season due to severe drought conditions experienced in the areas which has resulted in a severe shortage of paddy in the market, he explained.

The current market is already experiencing a shortage of local rice varieties already, he said.

Most of the paddy farmers have been attracted to the private paddy millers.

“As the farmers are getting high prices from mill owners we don’t get much stocks this year” PMB chairman K. B. Jayasinghe said.

Small and medium term mill owners have been drastically affected by the issue as they are unable to pay the competitive prices paid by much larger competitors.

“On earlier occasions we supplied paddy from the PMB to the small and medium scale mill owners at guaranteed price. But this time we are unable to do so as the PMB is also not receiving paddy, due to higher prices paid by the large scale mill owners”, Cooperatives and Internal Trade Ministry spokesperson Nipuna Ekanayake said.

The imported varieties are also being sold at the price ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Internal Trade, Mr. Ekanayake said.

The Trade Ministry will monitor the current rice and paddy markets before importing rice, he said.

“We have to first see how much the Yala season production is before importing rice for the local market. Once the harvesting is completed we will imported the necessary quantity.

Many of the supermarkets in Colombo have run short of red rice stocks, among other varieties.