Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera said that the 65,000 metric tons of urea fertiliser from the Indian Government for the Yala season will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 8.
“Earlier, this shipment of fertiliser was due to reach Sri Lanka on July 10 or 11, but after speaking to the concerned parties, we managed to get it three to four days ahead. We have created trust among local farmers, hence they plan to cultivate and obtain double the yield during the Maha season, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
He said that upgrading the infrastructure for the supply of fertiliser for this year’s Yala season and the 2022/23 Maha season had been discussed at length. The Agriculture Ministry will distribute the urea countrywide, no sooner the consignment is received.
Minister Amaraweera said the Power and Energy Ministry will release 125,000 litres of diesel to distribute the. A bag of urea will be provided to farmers’ organisations at Rs. 10,000. At present, the price of a bag of urea fertiliser in the market ranges from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 42,000.
“This stock of urea fertiliser was ordered by the Government of India from Oman and samples will be tested by Singapore-based Technical Controls and Inspection Services (TCIS). This company has been selected to test the samples of all fertiliser stocks imported this year and fertiliser samples stored before shipment and samples of fertiliser loaded on the ship will also be tested by the company,” he said.
The Minister said the Government will provide 50,000 tons of urea for paddy cultivation and 10,000 tons of it for maize cultivation. The stock of fertiliser will be distributed countywide between July 10 and 15.
“Money has been granted by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to purchase fertiliser for the Maha season,” Minister Amaraweera added.