Keerthi Fernando –
The Anuradhapura District Small and Medium Scale Mill Owners warn that there is a risk of an increase in the price of rice kilogram to Rs 500. They point that may due to panic buying of paddy from farmers by middle class people around the country.
The president of the association U.K Semasinghe said that milling industry was also in serious danger due to this situation.
“The middle class people are currently taking ten to fifteen bales of paddy from the villages.That was mainly on the concerns of food shortage as warned by officials. Small and medium scale paddy mill owners do not have to buy paddy in the open market. We feel that the price of rice will go up to around Rs. 500 in the short term, ”he said.
Meanwhile, in an environment where the total cost of rice, including sacks, fuel, wages, spare parts and transport costs, has gone up, the cost of production per kilo of rice is 250 rupees. KP Ranjith, President of the Small and Medium Scale Rice Owners’ Association told Lankasara.
He said that due to the shortage of paddy stocks, the price of paddy is also increasing day by day.
There is a possibility of a shortage of 800,000 metric tons of rice this year, said the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, M.B.R. Pushpakumara said today. The United Nations is preparing to call on the world to provide food to Sri Lanka by next Wednesday.
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