Soya farmers in trouble of selling their harvest in Sri Lanka

(October 03, 2010) As the media reported the woes of Sri Lankan soya farmers who are in difficulty of selling their bounty harvest, the government has decided to ban import of soya beans.

The company under the Ministry of Health that produces nutrient ‘Thriposha’ supplied free of charge to pregnant and breast feeding mothers of the country is to purchase the harvest of the farmers through the regional farmer companies.

The farmer companies are to purchase soya at Rs. 95 per kilo from farmer companies while the companies buy them at Rs. 85 per kilo.

The Corporative Wholesale Establishment stores at Welisala have been given to the Thriposha company to stock the soya harvest.

Meanwhile, ground reports point out that the price of a kilo of soya in open market is around Rs. 50. Some companies that signed forward trade agreements with farmers to purchase soya at prices above Rs. 80 per kilo have also resorted to break the agreements through scrupulous ways to purchase soya from open market.

This phenomenon is repeated in  Lanka as the agricultural authorities have no plans to manage the harvests properly.

Farmers say that in number of occasions, markets flooded with imported agricultural commodities like big onion, potato and maze etc. just before the harvests were reaped by local farmers.

Posted in Ministry of Health , soya , Thriposha