Paddy purchasing likely to resume next week

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that the purchase of paddy from farmers which had been temporarily stopped may resume next week.

“We expect money from the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board to buy paddy from farmers. The quantity of paddy that can be purchased will be decided depending on the amount of money given, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

“We have also requested a State bank and we have received a favourable response. Then we could purchase more paddy from farmers,” he said.

Earlier, paddy worth Rs.2,000 million was purchased with funds received from the Treasury. However, the purchase of paddy was temporarily stopped due to lack of funds.