The imported stocks are to be used as buffer stocks ahead of the elections. Sri Lanka has anticipated rice price hikes and shortages in near future. President Mahinda Rajapakse said recently in a discussion with the pro-government trade union leaders that there is a conspiracy against the government by the traders to create an artificial rice shortage. Rice is the major staple food of the Sri Lankans.
Sri Lanka is facing a drought situation with the delay if the monsoon rains and thousands of acres of rice fields have been abandoned due to water shortage in the main rice farming areas.
From October to February, Sri Lanka's rice farming districts receive sufficient rains from the northeast monsoon for the cultivation in the main season. Excess water is stocked in reservoirs for limited cultivation in the other season in which low rainfall is recorded.
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