Comments on: Paddy at Rs. 20 and Rice at Rs. 60 - What is the mystery?

By: sham

sham — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:19:34 +0000

ideally we should look at PPP -public private partnerships. like in UK if the government could try to provide transport to the areas such as east and north central, giving competition to the middle men. this would be the best solution. already we see rice being in private hand being branded as super market brands. if the governmett could set up a semi-governmetn institution, that would create futher competition.

By: Chanakya Dissanayake

Chanakya Dissanayake — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:50:07 +0000

You need 1 1/2 Kilos of paddy to make one kilo of rice. Add cost of power, machine depreciation and labor costs to that and you realize that mill owners are losing money at current regulated prices. Paddy prices have been close to Rs.40 in all provinces. Do people realize that the current world market price for rice is around US$1000 per mt, which works out to Rs.107/kilo. Sri lankan housewives are getting thier rice damn cheap, I would say!

To listen to the other side of the story, speak to people importing agricultural machinery, motorbikes etc. Farmers are making money after a very long time and they are spending it. Only politicians have a problom with it.

By: Deane

Deane — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:06:00 +0000

Passing the buck to “private mill operators” is just an easy way out. It’s quite revealing that the article doesn’t mention the hike in world commodity prices or the extremely high inflation in Sri Lanka in general, even without ‘rice prices’ factored in. Do we eat just rice now?

Perhaps groundview magazine should stick to “humanitarian and peacebuilding narratives” without venturing into unfamiliar territory.

By: sunanda Deshapriya

sunanda Deshapriya — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:16:35 +0000

This article is based on completely wrong data. One killo of paddy - Nadu sells at Rs 38 + and Samba Rs 40 + a week ago. all verities of Paddy went up close to Rs 30, in March/April.

And there is a general crisis of food prices and especially rice scarcity in whole of South Asia, India and Pakistan has banned export of rice except Basmathi.

I only want to highlight these facts, not to bail out the government for the crisis.

By: Ekcol

Ekcol — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:19:20 +0000

Intervention in pricing and subsidies in the production and sale of essential commodities are necessary in an open market economy. Rice is a case in point. When chemical and fuel inputs for production are imported at high cost and when sale of the produce is local, unlike garments or tea, in the third world, subsidy is necessary if the price is to be held to affordable level of the poor. Rice is a case in point. The middlemen and the rice mill owners in a market economy will buy low and sell high. Without check they will do anything to maximise their profit margin.

Rice Mill owners and middlemen buy the paddy from the farmers soon after transplanting or within two months after sowing. The farmer need the money and he sells it for a low price to the middlemen and rice mill owners.

Your readers may not know that the govt does not allow transport of rice from the Vanni to the South or to Jaffna. This supply of rice from the major Irranamadhu Tank and middle and minor tanks are lost to the people in the South and in Jaffna. The price of rice in the Vanni at the end of last year was Rs 27/kg. A few kgs are allowed to be taken to Vavuniya when people carry them on their head or wheel it on their bicycle to sell for more than twice the price in the Va. In a place where corruption, hording and other malpractice are prosecuted within the existing laws, in a court of law, the price can be fixed for the farmer, mill owner and middlemen, and consumers in times of good and poor harvest. This price fixing is done by negotiation by all parties concerned under arbitration for benefit of all.