Paddy storage and processing

PES covers the period 2/78-6/84 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with project personnel. While not all specific objectives have been attained, a good deal has been accomplished. Civil construction work in 6 of 7 2T/hr milling and storage complexes has been completed - 2 have already been commissioned and 2 others will be by late 1984. A total of 57 Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) personnel have received short-term training and 2 others M.S. training; 366 PMB staffers have received in-country training. Of 10 1T/hr rice mills provided, 7 have been sold to the private sector and 3 relocated for PMB use (2 are already installed). Less positively, only about 1,000 moisture meters have been sold, due to the emergence of the private sector, which does not use moisture meters in procurement; 2,000 meters remain undisposed in PMB godowns. Inadequate budgetary support from the Government of Sri Lanka and the slow turnover of moisture meters delayed construction of facilities required for the 2T/hr mills. The project has increased PMB storage capacity by 30,000 MT, milling capacity by 72,000 T/yr, and parboiling capacity by 57,600 T/yr (vs. targets of 35,000 MT, 67,200 T/yr, and 67,200 T/yr, respectively). Private milling capacity has been increased by the targeted 33,600 T/yr and 108 of 218 targeted private sector millers have been trained. Increases in the efficiency of procurement, storage, and processing have been more difficult to measure but are believed to have been somewhat reduced by the lack of grain accounting and cost accounting systems and of a repair and maintenance program. In essence, the project has transferred the technology without an appropriate technological base. Lessons learned are: increased frequency of project evaluations is beneficial; more attention should be paid in the design stage to identifying constraints and scheduling inputs; and more attention is required in monitoring construction, matching project needs with appropriate TA, and timing TA.