50,000Mn. provided as fertilizer subsidy to paddy cultivating farmers

An amount of 50,000 million rupees was spent as a subsidy for the purchase of fertilizers in the five cropping seasons from 2022 yala season to 2024 yala season. The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera mentioned that the Honorable President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the Minister of Finance, provided the necessary funds for the fertilizer subsidy.

The minister expressed these views during the discussion held with farmers’ representatives in Beliatte last Friday (16).

The minister who expressed his opinion there-

In the maha season of 2021, there was no chemical fertilizer needed for paddy cultivation. The private sector sold a bundle of urea fertilizer at a price of 42,000 rupees. The farmers even mortgaged their general golden asserts and brought a bundle of urea fertilizer for 42,000 rupees and applied it little by little to the fields. But there was no urea fertilizer in the country to buy even for 42,000 rupees.

But immediately after coming to power, the Hon. President Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe decided to provide urea fertilizer to the farmers. Although the government does not have money to buy urea fertilizer in the 2022 yala season, we brought 65,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer under the Indian credit line and gave it to the farmers. President Ranil Wickramasinghe discussed with the Government of India for that.

When we bought fertilizers under the Indian credit line, the JVP govi niyojithyo even petitioned the Indian government asking how the money under the Indian credit line could be spent on fertilizers. Because of that fertilizer was taken from Oman. But Indian government gave us fertilizer.

In that season, we gave a subsidy of 20,000 rupees to buy fertilizer per hectare. We gave the same amount of money for the 2022 maha season and 2023 yala season. Also, fertilizer subsidy of 10,000 rupees per hectare was given in 2023 maha season and 2024 yala season.

The government has spent 50,000 million rupees for this. That is why we were able to become self-sufficient in rice. Today, we have been able to produce the rice that the country needs without any shortage in this country itself.

And there was a surplus of rice last year. Therefore, by providing two hundred thousand metric tons of rice for animal feed, we were able to save the amount of dollars that had to be spent on importing animal feed from abroad in our country.

Today there is no shortage of rice in the country because we were able to achieve that victory.

Also, we will provide the farmers with the required amount of MOP fertilizer free of charge in the next two cropping seasons from the 2024 maha season onwards. According to a discussion held by the Honorable President with the World Food Program, we will receive 55,000 metric tons of MOP fertilizer for free by October.

The minister also mentioned that the government has given approval to provide 3.5 billion rupees for the distribution of MOP fertilizer as well as VAT.

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