Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mahinda Amaraweera said that the Government will provide a 50 kg bag of urea fertiliser at Rs. 4,000 to farmers for the Maha season.
He was addressing the Puluwan Sri Lanka public rally at Morawaka on Friday,September 6.
The Minister said that the price of a bag of urea, which was Rs. 42,000 in 2022, could be reduced to Rs. 8,000 for the Yala season this year.
He said that the Government has decided to provide a bag of fertiliser at Rs. 4,000 as a special concession for farmers as it will help them to fetch a higher price for paddy and a subsidised price of rice for consumers.
The Minister said the Government has credited over Rs. 55,000 million to the farmers’ accounts from the 2022 Yala season to the 2024 Maha season to purchase fertiliser. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to increase this to Rs.25, 000 per hectare from the Maha season.
He said the Government has reached an agreement with the World Food Program to obtain 55,000 metric tons of MOP fertiliser in the 2024 Maha season and 2025 Maha season to provide the MOP fertiliser free for each paddy field.
