INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Ministry of Agriculture has received the first stock of 13,000 tons of Urea fertilizer today (28) under the World Bank concessional
emergency loan of 110 million US dollars and accordingly, the government has decided to provide a 50 kg bag of urea fertilizer to paddy
10,000.This step was taken to protect household food security, farming and rural incomes based on the demands made during several
discussions with the intervention of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.This World Bank support
complements the support of other development partners such as the Asian Development Bank and the United States Agency for International
Development.Sri Lanka requires approximately 150,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer for paddy cultivation during the Maha season
Rohana Pushpakumara, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Mr
fertilizer will be distributed directly to the paddy farmers through Agrarian Service Centres
Paddy farmers who grow paddy up to a minimum of 2 hectares will be able to purchase a fixed number of bags of fertilizer depending on the
area they have prepared for paddy.The maximum amount of fertilizer each farmer can purchase is determined based on the recommendations of
the Department of Agriculture, with variations depending on the agro ecological zone
In addition, 12,000 metric tons of urea is to be provided for 60,000 hectares of maize farmers, and the price of a 50 kg bag is set at
production and distribution of fertilizer.Amid rising market prices, the Ministry of Agriculture has signed an agreement to supply 12,500
metric tons, 50,000 metric tons and 45,000 metric tons of urea under three phases.The agreement to procure another 25,000 metric tons of
urea is to be signed shortly, the PMD reported.According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 21,000 metric tons of urea have already been
distributed to the farmers under the Indian Concessional Loan facility.With the support of the World Bank, the Ministry of Agriculture has
taken steps to deploy a Geo-Enabled Monitoring System (GEMS) to monitor the distribution of fertilizer from ports to agrarian service
centres and from agrarian service centres to farmers
The system is also used for environmental and social risk management, grievance redress and impact.-PMD
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
