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65,000 MT Omani-Indian urea fertiliser to arrive early July

10 Jun 2022

  • To be given to farmers at Rs. 10,000 per bag 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Ministry of Agriculture has stated that 65,000 metric tonnes (MT) of urea fertiliser provided by the Government of India would be delivered to Sri Lanka within the first two weeks of next month. Addressing a discussion on the progress of foreign-funded agricultural projects under the Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday (8), Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that 65,000 MT of urea fertiliser provided by the Indian Government would arrive in Sri Lanka in the first two weeks of July. “Arrangements have been made to hand over a bag of this urea fertiliser to farmers at a cost of around Rs. 10,000. This was agreed upon in discussions with farmers’ representatives and the relevant officials. Also, when these prices were presented to the Cabinet of Ministers, there was no objection,” he further said. Claiming that the said stock of fertiliser has been imported by the Indian Government from Oman for their needs, he said that India has decided to provide this stock of urea fertiliser to Sri Lanka considering the current shortage of fertiliser and the issues faced by farmers islandwide. “As soon as this stock of fertiliser is received, it will be distributed to farmers within two or three days through the network including the National Fertiliser Secretariat of the Ministry, the Colombo Commercial Fertilisers Ltd. and Ceylon Fertiliser Company Ltd.,” added Amaraweera. Meanwhile, Cabinet approval has been granted last week to import 150,000 MT of urea, 45,000 MT of muriate of potash, and 36,000 MT of triple superphosphate fertilisers required for paddy cultivation during the 2022-2023 Maha cultivation season. The Department of Government Information stated that the Cabinet has granted its approval to the said proposal presented by Amaraweera. Accordingly, the relevant quantities of fertiliser would be imported and distributed by the Ceylon Fertiliser Company Ltd. and Colombo Commercial Fertilisers Ltd. Cabinet approval had meanwhile been given to sign an agreement with the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India for a loan of $ 55 million to purchase urea fertiliser for the upcoming Maha season. The proposal has been tabled by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies as the Government of India has agreed to provide a $ 55 million loan through the EXIM Bank of India for the procurement of urea. Furthermore, Amaraweera, speaking at an awareness programme for all Agricultural Research Officers and Agriculture officials at the Ambalantota Divisional Secretariat recently, said that the World Bank had agreed to provide $ 105 million for the entire urea fertiliser stock required for paddy cultivation.  


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