Govt. allocates Rs 10 billion more to purchase urea

By Ifham Nizam

The government yesterday allocated Rs.10 billion for the purchase of urea fertiliser for this year’s Yala cultivation.

An Agriculture Ministry official said that at present the warehouses of Lanka Fertiliser Company and Commercial Fertiliser Company had about 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser. Arrangements had been made to purchase another 25,000 tonnes, it said.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the purpose of the allocation of funds was to provide urea fertiliser needed for paddy cultivation, maize cultivation and other crops in the Yala season by maintaining a reserve of 100,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser.

The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to provide all three types of fertilisers necessary for paddy cultivation namely, TSP, MOP and Urea without any shortage in the 2023 Yala season.

Accordingly, arrangements had been made to provide the TSP at the beginning of the Yala season to all paddy farmers, free of charge. The fertiliser ship is scheduled to reach Colombo port in the middle of this month, carrying 36,000 tonnes of manure.

They also said that there was a surplus of about 35,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser with the fertiliser companies.

A reserve of about 60,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser would be maintained by the end of this month, and with the urea fertiliser to be purchased, under the allocated amount of Rs.10 billion, it would be possible to maintain a reserve of nearly 100,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser, the official added.