Aug 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka government plans to reestablish the now defunct Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) in order to provide long lasting solutions to the dilemmas of paddy cultivation sector, Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

Re-establishment of the PMB will be announced on September 03 at the National Youth Centre in Maharagama during the inauguration ceremony of the national programme to promote the country's indigenous food crops. The programme will be held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The Minister said that all the properties belonging to the PMB that were given away to the private sector through various agreements during the former UNP will be taken to re-vest in the PMB.

With this change in the structure government can easily answer the storage problem currently the farmers encounter and the Ministry will take steps to establish new paddy stores, Minister added.