By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government would buy chemical fertiliser at a higher prices and distribute it among farmers who produce seed paddy for the next Maha Season, Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday at the post-Cabinet Press Conference.

Minister Amaraweera also urged farmers to start agricultural activities before 10 June.

He said that they would purchase organic fertiliser from domestic producers and distribute them among the farmers initially.

“There have been some issues with the organic fertiliser produced last year. We will take steps to minimise these problems this year,” he said.

The Minister said that there is a lot of demand for chemical fertiliser and that the government has started several high level discussions to procure adequate amounts of chemical fertiliser.

“The President and Prime Minister have spoken to several countries that are key exporters of chemical fertiliser. As you are aware the top chemical fertiliser producers have ceased exporting. The Ukraine crisis has made matters worse. We have asked for support from seven ambassadors of countries that are key exporters of chemical fertiliser,” he said.

Minister Amaraweera said that India had promised to supply 65,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser and discussions on that are ongoing. He is in constant communication with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in New Delhi and the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo about fast tracking the delivery.

“I will meet the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo today and discuss further. We ask farmers not to wait till fertiliser arrives in Sri Lanka. The government has planned many concessions for farmers. Even if farmers purchase chemical fertiliser at a high price from the market, we will compensate them later. We need to think about the next Maha season too. We need seed paddy for that. The government will buy chemical fertiliser at a higher cost from the market and give it to farmers who produce seed paddy that is needed,” he said.

There is also a shortage of rice already and the government has already imported over 300,000 metric tonnes of rice and more will be imported soon. The Ministry of Trade has started the import process already, so that consumers do not need to fret, he said.

“The Paddy Marketing Board too has about 40 000 metric tonnes of paddy and they will be made rice and sold to the consumer. We will try to ensure that there is no need to import rice after the next Maha season,” he said.