Nimal Wijesinghe-Anuradhapura Additional District Group Corr
The Anuradhapura Upuldeniya Cereals (pulse) Storage Complex will begin its business on July 1. Anuradhapura District Secretary D.P.G Kumarasiri said the centre would make a revolutionary change in the field of cereals storage. The World Bank has offered financial assistance for the project. Upuldeniya complex built at a cost of Rs. 300 million, is the first such storage complex in a chain of stores envisaged to be constructed, including Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Ampara, Matale and Moneragala.
Kumarasiri said farmers in Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Kurunegala and Matale can hand over their agricultural products such as maize, paddy, undhu, kurakkan, gingerly and soya in bulk to the storage equipped with advanced storage technology. Stocks are processed and stored in the complex. Farmers are issued a receipt with a government guarantee. The receipt is accepted by the People's Bank, Bank of Ceylon and Regional Development Bank as a bank security on which a loan is granted to the holder at a low interest rate, Kumarasiri said. The District Secretary said if a farmer want to sell his sock to the outside market when prices are high, he is at liberty to do so. If not, the management of the complex would sell the cereals at a public auction after four months and settle the value of pulses to the farmer. Farmers are charged only one cent per kilogram per day for the stocks.
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