Permanent tax to keep potato, onion prices stable mooted
Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told Parliament yesterday (22) that it has been proposed to the Cabinet of Ministers to impose a permanent tax to maintain potatoes and onions at a stable price.
The Minister also said that if there is additional profit from that tax, a programme has been prepared to provide the relief to the consumer through another method. The minister said this in reply to a question by MP Nimal Piyatissa. He said that only if there is a shortage of potatoes and onions, attention can be paid to reducing the tax.
The Minister said that the cabinet sub-committee also discussed the injustice being done to potato and onion farmers.
“Currently, the price of potatoes has increased. We bring most of the seed potatoes we need from abroad. Seed potatoes cost more. A programme for the production of seed potatoes has been prepared in Sri Lanka. Then you can compete with seeds imported from abroad. Sri Lankan farmers are more interested in the country’s seed potatoes. It gives more yield. This situation has also happened to B onions. After lifting the ban in India, the market wholesale price has reduced to Rs 100. In order to maintain a stable price in the future, an additional tax is being imposed according to the production cost of the farmer. This way, a programme can be prepared to protect both the consumer and the farmer,” he said. Refuting the allegations levelled by various groups claiming that Sri Lanka is currently importing vegetables, Minister Amaraweera said that only big onions and potatoes are imported and plans are currently underway to produce them locally.
“So far we have started to grow red onions locally and as a result of that Sri Lanka would be 100 percent self-sufficient in red onions in the coming season,” he said. He said that the prices of vegetables in the market have now been decreased to the extent that the farmer is not getting the right price. This is a matter between the consumer and the farmer.
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