- Agriculture Minister credits controversial private mill owners with preventing deeper rice shortages amid ongoing food security challenges.
Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister K. D. Lal Kantha says private mill owners like Dudley Sirisena helped prevent a deeper rice crisis, even as they face criticism over alleged involvement in the rice mafia. Here’s what the Minister revealed.
Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister K. D. Lal Kantha has said that if not for private rice mill owners like Dudley Sirisena, the country’s rice supply crisis could have worsened dramatically. Speaking at a media briefing during a series of agricultural development inspections, the Minister made a controversial but significant statement suggesting that despite their criticism, these private players were instrumental in preventing national food insecurity.
The Minister’s remarks come at a time when figures like Dudley Sirisena are often accused of being part of a “rice mafia” that manipulates prices. However, Lal Kantha offered a different narrative: “If people like Dudley Sirisena were not in this country, let me be honest the paddy problem would have turned into a full-blown crisis.”
He further emphasized that the government had ensured Sri Lankan farmers received relief during the last harvesting season. Unlike in previous years, farmers did not protest or take to the streets. The government, according to him, had offered timely support and secured prices that made cultivation profitable particularly in maize, where farmers earned above cost for the first time in a long while.
As part of the broader food security initiative, the Ministry is taking steps to reform the Paddy Marketing Board. A significant hurdle remains the Board’s lack of infrastructure to dry incoming wet paddy. The Minister stated that they are working on solutions to address this problem and are preparing to purchase paddy directly from farmers using both government and private sector channels.
Despite public skepticism, the Minister noted that cooperation with private millers remains essential. “We’re talking about a private sector that some believe is part of a rice-paddy mafia. But the truth is, their capacity has helped us manage the situation,” he said.
Moving forward, the government aims to build an agricultural economy that ensures all three parties farmers, processors, and consumers—benefit fairly. This approach, dubbed by Lal Kantha as an “economic democracy,” is designed to strengthen national food resilience while avoiding exploitation of any stakeholder in the food supply chain.
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