He said that in the Mannar district, around 105,000 hectares of land were cultivated with paddy and a harvest of 450,000 metric tons was expected.
It is learnt that inadequate storage facilities have hampered the government sector maha season paddy purchasing programme though districts such as Anuradhapura, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mulaithivu, and Kilinochchi come under the PMB's Anuradhapura zonal authority.
Reports indicate that sans sufficient and systematic warehouse accommodation in Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu farmers were forced to sell their paddy harvest at lower prices than the government guaranteed price to private sector paddy purchasers.
