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Farmers reject compensation and paddy purchase price

27 Jan 2022

 
  • Claim insufficient for 50% harvest drop and costs
  • Note even Rs. 100 per paddy kilo inadequate
  BY Buddhika Samaraweera The All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) has said that the farmers would not accept the compensation promised by the Government for crops damaged due to the fertiliser crisis and the guaranteed price of Rs. 75 to be paid for a kilogramme of paddy under the Government’s paddy purchasing programme. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (26), ACFF Convener Namal Karunaratne charged that both the compensation and guaranteed price announced by the Government were not sufficient in the face of a sharp rise in the cost of production for farmers during the last Maha cultivation season. “Currently, the cost of production of paddy has gone up drastically. Due to the shortage of fertilisers and agrochemicals which arose with the Government’s decision to ban the import of such, farmers have had to spend a lot of money to buy them during the recent past. In addition, fuel prices have increased twice in the last few months. As a result, the cost of machinery used for harvesting has gone up. In other words, the farmers’ production cost increased last season, but the yield decreased,” he said. He further said that even if a kilogramme of paddy is to be sold at Rs. 100, it would not be advantageous for the farmer. He said that although the guaranteed price planned to be given to farmers by the Government is Rs. 75 per kilogramme, it has cost the farmer more than Rs. 75 to produce a kilogramme of paddy. “Recently, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked for the farmers to be paid Rs. 95 per kilogramme of paddy, but now Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage says that they are paying Rs. 75 per kilogramme of paddy. We do not know whether we should accept what Rajapaksa says or what Aluthgamage says. By saying that Rs. 95 should be paid for a kilogramme of paddy, the President has also admitted that Rs. 75 is not enough,” claimed Karunaratne. He also said that the paddy harvest has been reduced by about 50% due to the current fertiliser crisis and that the amount of compensation that the Government is preparing to pay for crop damage is not adequate at all. Therefore, the compensation of Rs. 25 per kilogramme of paddy will not be accepted by farmers, he said. He added: “Also, Aluthgamage has said that compensation will be given only to paddy farmers, but farmers who cultivate other crops such as maize, soya, potato, onion, fruits, and vegetables also faced difficulties due to the fertiliser crisis. They should be compensated too.” Speaking to the media on 25 January, Aluthgamage said that the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the payment of compensation of Rs. 25 per kilogramme of paddy to paddy farmers whose cultivations have been damaged due to the fertiliser shortage caused by the Government’s programme towards establishing organic agriculture. However, he stated that no compensation would be paid for the crop damages caused to maize and vegetable farmers. A proposal to ban the use and importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals was submitted to the Cabinet by President Rajapaksa last April and the same was granted approval. However, the Government decided to revoke the said ban on the importation of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals, and to thereby allow the private sector to import such, with effect from 24 November 2021. However, throughout the past few months, farmers in several areas were seen charging that there is a serious shortage of fertiliser for their cultivations and a number of protests have also been organised by farmers’ organisations and various parties demanding that the Government provide a solution to the fertiliser shortage. In addition, several protests were organised by farmers in the recent past demanding that their crop damages due to the fertiliser issue be compensated.  

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