By Nimal Gunathilake
Agricultural experts have expressed concern about the government’s decision to release rice stocks purchased and stored at lower prices to the market as such action could lead to a significant drop in rice prices during the 2024/25 Maha harvesting season.
Professor Buddhi Marambe, from the Department of Crop Science at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, has criticised the move, noting the government’s earlier claims that previous administrations had failed to store even a grain of rice. He expressed surprise that tenders had been called to sell 119,000 metric tonnes of Keeri Samba rice under such circumstances.
Prof. Marambe has warned that the release of rice at reduced prices will allow mill owners, traders, intermediaries to suppress rice prices during the Maha season. He has pointed out that the extent of damage to rice cultivation caused by heavy rains and flooding has not been fully assessed.
Professor Marambe has highlighted that an accurate evaluation of the damage to rice cultivation is still pending, but it is estimated that at least 50,000 hectares of farmland have been affected. As a result, he projected that Sri Lanka could lose between 250,000 and 360,000 metric tonnes of rice.
The government has acknowledged a rice shortage and imported over 170,000 metric tonnes of rice through public and private sector collaboration. However, a solution to the scarcity of Rathu Kekulu rice has yet to be identified.
