Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Manjula Pinnalanda said that plans have been made to purchase paddy this year from today, focusing on the warehouses owned by the Paddy Board located in 143 locations in the country.
Pointing out that the government has provided Rs. 6,000 million to the Paddy Marketing Board for these purposes, and in addition, another Rs. 10,000 million has been allocated under the Odapana loan, he stated that this year, Nadu paddy is to be purchased at Rs. 120 per kilo, Samba paddy at Rs. 130 per kilo, and Keeri Samba paddy at Rs. 140 per kilo.
Although paddy harvesting has begun in some places these days, he said that paddy harvesting is currently taking place in large quantities in the North and East and Ampara areas, and therefore, paddy purchases will be made in those areas at the earliest.