Rice millers to cease activity if crops are not sold at reasonable rates

COLOMBO (News 1st): Rice millers say that they will cease activities if they cannot sell their crop at reasonable rates. The Government recently ruled that one kilogram of nadu rice will be purchased from farmers at Rs. 50, and Samba rice at Rs. 52 per a kilogram. However, farmers state that they spend more than that amount for the process of moving their harvest to storage units, and have requested for their harvest to be bought at higher rates. As the Government has remained silent, farmers began selling their harvest at higher rates to rice millers. However, rice producers say they cannot sell rice at lower rates, as they had spent more to purchase them. The farmers have also begun asking for Nadu rice to be sold at Rs. 110 per one kilogram, Samba rice at Rs. 130, and Keeri Samba at Rs. 160. President of the Sri Lanka Rice Millers Association Suraj Jayawickrama says "All millers functioning in small, large, and middle-scale capacities have been forced to cease operations." "The Government's attempt to control the price of rice artificially and also under a state of emergency is very unsuccessful," he added. He was of the opinion that if the prices of other essential items are increasing, then rice prices must also be increased. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-c5lq7Jo5g