Sri Lanka faces a concerning food security issue as the Paddy Marketing Board has managed to purchase only 56,000 kilograms of paddy from this year’s Maha season harvest—an amount insufficient to feed the nation for even a single meal.
Despite government expectations to procure 41,600 metric tons during the season, over 90% of the harvest has already been completed with minimal collection. This stark gap raises questions about procurement efficiency and future stock availability.
The government had allocated Rs. 5,000 million for the first phase of paddy purchases. However, Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Manjula Pinnalanda revealed that only Rs. 5 million worth of paddy has been acquired so far.
The shortfall underscores a potential crisis in national food supply management and places pressure on authorities to explain the failure to meet procurement targets.
