The Government plans to provide cultivation subsidies for 12 additional food crops, apart from paddy, for the first time in history, Deputy Agriculture Minister Namal Karunaratne said. The Government has already commenced providing cultivation subsidies to farmers, amounting to a sum that no previous Government had provided. 

Farmers would be able to use the subsidy for any agricultural purpose, including purchasing fertiliser and preparing their land for cultivation. 

The Government had doubled the amount of the cultivation subsidy provided to farmers compared to the amount paid before it assumed office. "For the first time in history, farmers cultivating 12 additional crops, apart from paddy, will receive the same subsidy amount provided for paddy cultivation. This applies to farmers cultivating additional food crops on lands used for paddy cultivation," he said. 

He added that the Government was providing an unprecedented amount of financial assistance to farmers through cultivation subsidies and that the payments were already underway.