Paddy procurement for the Yala season is scheduled to begin today (13), said the Chairman of the Paddy Marketing Board, Manjula Pinnalanda. He further stated that paddy procurement will commence by opening paddy warehouses in the areas where the highest paddy harvest is being carried out these days.
Accordingly, since the paddy harvest has already begun in the North and East and Ampara areas, he stated that paddy procurement will be carried out in those areas at the earliest.
The Paddy Marketing Board recently announced the prices at which paddy will be purchased this year, and it is scheduled to purchase Nadu at Rs. 120 per kilo, Samba at Rs. 130 per kilo, and Keeri Samba at Rs. 140 per kilo.
The Chairman said that plans have been made for the purchase of paddy this year, focusing on the warehouses owned by the Paddy Marketing Board located in 143 locations across the island.
The government has allocated Rs. 6,000 million to the Paddy Marketing Board for these works, and in addition, another Rs. 10,000 million has been allocated under the Odapana loan.