The Government is to withdraw from the distribution of all types of agricultural inputs including fertilisers and agrochemicals from the 2023-2024 Maha cultivation season, and handover the same to the private sector, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Ministry’s Media Director, Dharma Wanninayake said that the Government has spent a large sum of Rs. 8.5 billion for the distribution of fertilisers during the 2022 Yala season. He said that the said sum of money had been spent on distribution-related activities while the cost of importing the inputs is also very high.
“In order to reduce this expenditure, the Government has decided to withdraw from the distribution of agricultural inputs including fertilisers, agrochemicals and agricultural seeds. The private sector will be tasked with it from the coming Maha season. The Government will be providing an allowance for the farmers to purchase what they need, and also regulating the prices and quality of the inputs,” he said.
Until the said programme is launched in the Maha season, Wanninayake said that the Government has decided to provide the farmers who cultivate paddy in the Yala season with an allowance of Rs. 20,000 per hectare and Rs. 40,000 for two hectares for the purchase of fertilisers, seed paddy, and parachute trays required for paddy cultivation under the parachute method.
The provision of fertilisers to farmers was affected from April 2021, with the ban on chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals. Since then, farmers have been charging that they have not been able to get the expected harvest, despite the use of the organic fertilisers provided by the Government. Although the Government stated that it would provide the farmers with the required chemical and organic fertilisers without any shortage, there are still allegations that farmers in certain areas are not receiving sufficient fertilisers and agrochemicals.
Source By themorning.lk
