The Ministry of Agriculture has proposed to the Government that the fertiliser subsidy of Rs. 10,000 currently provided to farmers be increased to Rs. 30,000 from next year (2025), thereby making the total cost of the provision of the fertiliser subsidy Rs. 30 billion.
Speaking during a media briefing at the Ministry premises yesterday (20), subject Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that the Government had realised that the current subsidy amount of Rs. 10,000 provided to farmers to purchase fertiliser for paddy cultivation was not sufficient. As a solution, he said that he had proposed to the Government to increase the fertiliser subsidy of Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 starting from next year, adding that the total cost of it would then be Rs. 30 billion.
“The Government has implemented a programme to double the paddy yield in five cultivating seasons. In order to make that programme successful, the fertiliser required for paddy cultivation should be applied on time. The Government has realised that the current amount given as the subsidy is not enough at all, but that due to the existing economic situation, it is not possible to give more at this point. However, as there has been some economic stability in the recent past, there is a possibility to increase it from next year’s Yala cultivating season,” he said.
In addition to the provision of financial provisions for farmers, Amaraweera said that another 55,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Muriate of Potash (MOP) fertiliser would be provided free of charge to the farmers in the next two Maha seasons.
Meanwhile, State Fertiliser Company Chairperson Dr. Jagath Perera said that the two combined fertiliser Companies – the Ceylon Fertiliser Company Private Limited and the Colombo Commercial Fertiliser Company Private Limited – had earned a profit of Rs. 433 million during the course of last year (2023). According to him, the two Companies have made profits of Rs. 141 million and Rs. 292 million, respectively.
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