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1200 December 02, 2021
The government has already provided Rs.4,500 million to 805,601 farmers to produce organic solid fertilizer, Agrarian Development Commissioner General A.H.M.L. Abeyratne said.
The Commissioner also pointed out that this money has been provided for 647,681 hectares of paddy lands.
He was speaking at a workshop on ‘The National Dialogue on the Progress of Organic Cultivation’ held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo.
Responding to questions from farmers at the workshop held on Tuesday (30), he said that 7,000 metric tonnes of organic solid fertilizer has been produced at Agrarian Development Regional Centres countrywide. In addition, 85 machines to crush the raw material used for the production of organic solid fertilizer have been provided to the Agrarian Development Regional Centres, the Commissioner said.
He said that steps have been taken to provide raw material cutting machines and lawn mowers to all Agrarian Development Regional Centres to expedite the process of organic solid fertilizer production.
Answering the questions of the farmers, National Fertilizer Secretariat Director Chandana Lokuhewage stated that although the requirement of organic solid fertilizer for this season is 4,16,176.73 metric tonnes, the supply that can be supplied is 3,59,708 metric tonnes. Meanwhile, steps have been taken to provide 77,25,099 liters of organic liquid fertilizer to farmers for the Maha Season this year, he said. Farmers who received subsidies for the production of solid fertilizer at Rs. 12,500 each have produced 101,957 metric tonns of organic solid fertilizer.
Agriculture Ministry Secretary Prof.Udith Jayasinghe said that the political authorities, the administration, the business community and the farmers should work together to make the government’s green agriculture policy a reality. The Secretary said that all these activities should be transparent.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, State Minister Shashindra Rajapaksa, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, Water Resources Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura, LSSP Leader MP Prof. Tissa Vitarana and other organizations representing various organizations participated.
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