Govt. mulls Rs. 16 b subsidy to boost use of organic fertiliser

The Department of Agriculture and the agriculture sector has recommended to the Ministry of Agriculture that, 70% of chemical fertilisers and 30% of organic fertilisers should be used in paddy cultivation in the 2022/23 Maha season.

It is proposed to use a mixture of chemical fertilisers and organic fertilisers for paddy cultivation in the coming Maha season.

Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said measures will be taken to provide a 50 kg bag of urea fertiliser at Rs. 10,000 and 125 kg urea for each hectare of cultivation in the upcoming Maha Season as well.

He said that the opportunity will be given to use 30% eco-friendly fertiliser and the Government has focused on providing a subsidy of Rs. 20,000 to the farmers for purchasing organic fertilisers, The amount expected to be spent by the Government to provide this subsidy is Rs. 16 billion. The Minister this week called all the fertiliser manufacturers who are currently producing environmentally friendly fertilisers in Sri Lanka to the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss the problems they are facing and whether it is possible to complete the organic fertiliser requirement of 30% in the coming season.

He said that he also believes that some of the fertilisers that have been given to farmers claiming to be organic fertilisers in the last season are very inferior in quality and condition and due to these arbitrary measures, the organic fertiliser production industry is under threat of collapse. The Government has decided to provide even this subsidy to protect the manufacturers, he added.

Therefore, if organic fertilisers are given to the farmers in this season, they will not be approved for their use without certification regarding their quality and standard, he said.

He also mentioned that the Department of Agriculture has set up a program to check the quality of organic fertilisers produced by some farmers on their own.

Currently, a 50 kg bag of urea fertiliser is sold for as high as Rs. 42,000 in the market. But the Government provides a 50 kg bag for Rs. 10,000. Therefore, no other subsidy will be given to the farmers who use urea fertilisers and the Government has decided to give a subsidy of Rs. 20,000 to the farmers buying organic fertilisers.

Officials of the Ministry, as well as all organic fertiliser manufacturers in the island also participated in this discussion.