Paddy marketing board increases limit placed on paddy purchases

Colombo (News 1st) - The Paddy Marketing Board has decided to increase the quantity of paddy purchased from one farmer up to 5 tonnes. Chairman of the board, Dr. J.D.Mannapperuma noted that the paddy will be purchased under three phases. Under this system farmers who cultivated up to 1 acre of land will be able to sell 1 tonne of Paddy to the board while farmers who cultivated between 1 and 3 acres will be able to seel 3 tonnes of paddy to the board. Farmers who farmed over 5 acres of land will be able to sell a maximum of 5 tonnes of paddy to the board. Earlier the paddy marketing board only purchased upto 2 tonnes of paddy from a single farmer.  Dr. Mannaperuma noted that the board has prepared 250 warehouses to store the purchased paddy. He added that 40 warehouses that were in a delapidated condition were renovated with the support of the Sri Lanka Army. The purchasing of paddy from the Maha season has commenced and collection centers are already operation in the Batticaloa, Kilinochchi, Mullativu and Vavuniya areas.