The Agriculture and Plantation Ministry has decided to provide 40 litres of diesel subsidy per hectare free of charge.
The issuance of vouchers to the farmers to get fuel was done with the participation of the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry Mahinda Amaraweera on Sunday (19). These vouchers were distributed in a programme held in Agunukolapelessa.
This fuel subsidy is available to all the farmers who suffered crop losses in the Walawa Zone, Hambantota district and Kurunegala district and all of the crop losses farmers reported in the last Yala Season. Sixty five thousand acres cultivated with paddy in the last Yala Season were damaged by drought and the Minister had instructed the Agricultural Development Department to provide this fuel subsidy to those farmers to harvest paddy in this Maha Season.
The Chinese Government had given 6.9 million litres of diesel to the Agriculture Ministry for free distribution for paddy cultivation in the last Maha Season. In the distribution of that diesel, some small quantities were not taken by some farmers and two million litres of diesel was left under that.
The Minister advised officials to take steps to distribute the remaining two million litres of diesel to farmers whose crops were damaged at the rate of 40 litres per hectare.
The post Free fuel subsidy for farmers appeared first on DailyNews.