• Rs. 20,000 subsidy for farmers buying organic fertiliser, total allocation Rs. 16 bn
• Only quality certified organic fertiliser to be sold

BY Buddhika Samaraweera   The Agriculture Ministry has planned to provide a subsidy of Rs. 20,000 to farmers who purchase organic fertiliser, from a total allocation of Rs. 16 billion, while there are no plans, however, to provide such a subsidy for the purchase of chemical fertiliser, including urea, during the coming Maha cultivation season. The Department of Agriculture and experts in the field recently recommended the use of 70% chemical fertiliser and 30% organic fertiliser for paddy cultivation from the Maha season onwards. Accordingly, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera yesterday (18) had a discussion with industrialists who are engaged in organic fertiliser production. During the discussion, Amaraweera said that some fertilisers that have been given to the farmers claiming to be organic fertilisers in the last Maha season were inferior in quality and condition. Therefore, he said, the sale of organic fertiliser products will not be approved without the relevant quality certifications. He further said that the Government has decided to provide farmers with a subsidy of Rs. 20,000 to purchase organic fertiliser, with the intention of protecting both the farmers and the industrialists. To provide the subsidy, he said that a sum of Rs. 16 billion is planned to be allocated. According to the Ministry, the farmers should purchase fertiliser first, and they will then be given the subsidy after submitting the relevant proof. However, noting that a bag of urea fertiliser is currently being sold for as high a price as Rs. 42,000 in the market, but that the Government is providing the same for Rs. 10,000, an official of the Ministry told The Morning that no other subsidy will be given for the purchase of chemical fertiliser, including urea. The Ministry, taking into account the recommendations of agricultural experts, recently stated that it would implement a programme in which the use of 70% chemical fertiliser and 30% organic fertiliser for paddy cultivation would be promoted from the coming Maha season. Previously, an official of the Ministry said that during a meeting at the Ministry, comments and suggestions were sought from agricultural experts regarding the use of chemical and organic fertilisers from the coming Maha season, under the concept of integrated plant nutrition management. The Ministry stated that this programme would be implemented with the aim of achieving a successful harvest in the Maha season under the integrated plant nutrition management programme, based on scientific data.