The government has completed a production cost report for paddy grown in the 2026 Yala season, putting the cost of producing a kilogram of paddy at between Rs. 76 and Rs. 119 depending on the variety.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha announced the findings at a special farmers’ meeting in Anuradhapura. He said the report was compiled jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Development, the Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of Post Harvest Management and the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute.
According to the report, Red Nadu paddy costs Rs. 76 a kilogram to produce and White Nadu Rs. 87. Samba is costed at Rs. 97 a kilogram and Keeri Samba at Rs. 119.
Lalkantha said the government now sets the guaranteed purchase price by adding a 30% profit margin to the production cost, a formula adopted in response to a long-standing demand from farmer organisations. He added that the Rs. 30,000-per-hectare fertiliser subsidy paid by the state had been factored into the cost calculations.
The costing lands in a district where the pricing dispute is live. Four days earlier, more than 1,000 Anuradhapura farmers protested in the town demanding a guaranteed price of Rs. 150 a kilo, with organisers saying millers were paying as little as Rs. 80 despite the official floor. The Paddy Marketing Board opened this season’s buying on July 13 at Rs. 120 for Nadu, Rs. 130 for Samba and Rs. 140 for Keeri Samba.
Applied to Wednesday’s figures, a 30% margin works out at roughly Rs. 99 a kilogram for Red Nadu, Rs. 113 for White Nadu, Rs. 126 for Samba and Rs. 155 for Keeri Samba. That would leave the season’s Rs. 120 Nadu price above the benchmark for both Nadu grades and the Rs. 130 Samba price slightly above it — but the Rs. 140 paid for Keeri Samba would fall about Rs. 15 short. Ada Derana’s report did not say whether the guaranteed prices would be revised in light of the costing.
The Minister also said Sri Lanka continues to import substantial volumes of staple foods, including potatoes, big onions, wheat flour, rice and basmati rice.
