As Northern farmers began their harvest in the wake of Thai Pongal festival last week, they complained they were forced to sell their reduced harvest at lower prices to private millers to settle their debts.
The ban on chemical fertiliser imports forced many farmers to buy adulterated fertiliser at exorbitant prices by taking loans or pawning their jewellery while others stayed away from farming due to their inability to afford the costs.
Farmers say low yield this time was due to the ban on chemical fertiliser
Facing a bleak future, a significant number of farmer returned their leased land plots fearing they would not be able to make adequate profits to pay the lease.
Though the Government has announced a guaranteed price for dried paddy at Rs 95 a kilo, no steps have been taken by the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) so far to start buying from farmers directly.
At present, the harvested fresh paddy is being bought by private millers at prices between Rs 50 and 65 a kilo in the Vavuniya, Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi districts even though the Agriculture Ministry earlier announced a guaranteed price of Rs 75 a kilo, farmers say.
Addressing a ceremony to mark the opening of the Mirigama-Kurunegala section of the Central Expressway last Saturday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the Agriculture Minister to buy paddy at Rs 95 to support the farmers.
Iranaimadhu Farmers Federation Secretary Muththu Sivamohan said farmers were desperate to sell their yield even at lower prices to meet the cost of living and settle debts they obtained to cover farming costs.
“Despite the President’s verbal instructions, the PMB is yet to start buying paddy from farmers directly. As the process is getting delayed, the farmers are forced to sell their harvest to private millers at give away prices,” the farmer leader said..
Meanwhile, a senior PMB official confirmed that the paddy buying programme was yet to begin because the Treasury had not yet given the money.
Nadanapaatham Jegatheesan, a Batticaloa miller, said he had temporarily stopped buying paddy from farmers since he believed that buying paddy would be not profitable for him.
“We don’t know what the Government’s agenda is when it comes to ensuring food security. We hear reports that rice is going to be imported from Pakistan, Myamnar and India in addition to the massive grant from China,” he said. His mill operations had also been halted due to delays in machinery repairs as parts were not coming to the country in view of the dollar crisis. “It is frustrating to think about what will happen in the coming months,” he said.
On Friday, President Rajapaksa made a sudden inspection visit to the Agrarian Development Department that comes under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture to ascertain how the government’s organic agriculture programme was being implemented.
During talks with senior officials, the President said the distribution, use and yield of organic fertiliser during the ongoing Maha Season should be studied carefully and preparations for the Yala Season should be made on those findings to avoid shortcomings, according to a statement issued by the Presidential Media Division.
The President was informed that some 34 public and private companies were given permits to produce organic fertiliser last year and steps were underway to support them with technical knowledge and agrarian research studies to increase their production level to meet the local demand.
In Sri Lanka’s rice bowl of Ampara, farmers said they feared the district would not be able to meet higher paddy yield targets of previous years as the chemical fertiliser ban crippled them and pushed many farmers into poverty.
“We were expecting a yield of about 2.9 million metric tonnes of paddy. However, it could be lower than expected due to various reasons,” Ampara District Secretary J.M.A.Douglas said.
Of the total yield, only ten percent would be bought by the PMB, he said.
The Agriculture Department Director General Ajantha de Silva said that under the directives of the President, the Government was determined to carry forward its organic farming initiatives in next season as well.
“The Government will issue organic fertiliser under subsidised schemes in the future. Then the farmers will have the liberty to use organic fertiliser or imported chemical fertiliser which will be available in the market soon,” Dr de Silva said.
When asked whether, farmers using chemical fertiliser would be eligible to for government relief programmes such as insurance schemes, the DG said, “it is too early to comment on that since we have received no instructions so far.”
China’s rice aid ruffles paddy trade
The Government’s claim that it will receive a Chinese grant of one million metric tonnes of rice–nearly half of the country’s annual rice consumption–has triggered alarms among farmers, local rice millers and importers.Large scale paddy millers have already slowed down purchases of paddy, resulting in low prices for farmers while importers have shown reluctance to go ahead with imports.Last week, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa met a Chinese embassy delegation led by Ambassador Qi Zhenhong to finalise the grant, a senior Trade Ministry official said.The Trade Ministry has been asked to submit the required rice varieties suitable for local consumption, the official said.However, so far there has been no announcement from China about the grant.Sri Lanka’s annual national rice demand is 2.1 million MT–equivalent to 3.2 million MT of paddy, based on 2016 per capita consumption of 104.5 kg a year.China’s one million metric tonne rice grant is to mark the 70th anniversary of the Sri Lanka-China Rubber – Rice Pact, according to the Trade Minister.This is the first time Sri Lanka is importing rice from China in 45 years. China’s long grain rice was imported in the 1970s by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s government.
Apart from the prospective Chinese rice grant, the Trade Ministry has finalised agreements to import rice from Myanmar and India.
The Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to import 100,000 MT of rice from Myanmar to maintain a buffer stock.
The agreement to import 300,000 MT of rice from India — 200,000 MT of Nadu type rice (parboiled) and 100,000 MT of GR11 (Samba) is also being finalised.
Local rice importers said opening Letters of Credit to begin the import process was further delayed due to the forex crisis as the Ministry had introduced a six-month window for payments.
They alleged that thousands of containers carrying rice were yet to be cleared from the Customs even after the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had released some funds last week.
Meanwhile, rice prices in the markets have been rising. A kilo of Red Kekulu which was selling at Rs 115 a kilogram shot up to Rs 150 on Friday.
