Paddy cultivators in the Anuradhapura District staged a protest in Anuradhapura town against the low guaranteed price for paddy, demanding a minimum of Rs. 150 per kilo.
More than 1,000 farmers took part, drawn from farmer organisations across the district including those of Nuwarawewa, Nachchaduwa, Thissawewa, Padaviya, Mahakanadarawa and Rajangana.
Punchirala Ratnayaka, President of the Anuradhapura District Farmer Organisation Collective, said growers had held protests in their own areas before gathering in Anuradhapura for a larger demonstration as a last resort.
He said repeated appeals to the government, the Minister of Agriculture and the deputy minister to raise the guaranteed price had produced no result. While the government had agreed a guaranteed price of Rs. 120 per kilo after talks with rice mill owners, the millers were paying only Rs. 80 per kilo, he said.
“Although we had a bumper harvest in the Yala season, we are facing hardship for want of a remunerative market for paddy,” Ratnayaka said, adding that farmers were determined to continue their campaign.
