Minister of Highways, Transport and Mass Media and Cabinet spokesman Dr. Bandula Gunawardena said the present shortage of chemical fertiliser for farmers would end within a week.
The Minister told the Sunday Observer that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal by Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera for the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) to buy paddy in the coming harvesting season.
Dr. Gunawardena said that the Minister of Agriculture has already presented a program to the Cabinet of Ministers to purchase paddy during the Yala season this year.
About 850,000 small- scale and low-income paddy farmers will be offered subsidies to continue paddy cultivation uninterruptedly to make the country self-sufficient in rice next year. Quality seed paddy and fertiliser too would be made available to them at a cost of Rs. 82,000 million, Minister Gunawardena added.
He said funds would be allocated for this project in the proposed short-term, amended Budget 2022 to be presented in Parliament next month.