The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera instructed Mr. A. M. H. L. Abeyratne, Commissioner General of Department of Agrarian Development to provide financial assistance to fertilizer subsidy for paddy farmers.
In crediting the fertilizer subsidy money to farmers’ accounts, it has been found that some paddy owners change their farmers depending on each cropping season, so there are some delays in disbursing the fertilizer subsidy.
This year, the government has given Rs. 5.4 billion to farmers’ accounts to buy fertilizers. But some farmers have complained that they have not received the money yet.
Taking this situation into consideration, the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera discussed this with the officials of the Department of Agrarian Development today (27).
Accordingly, the Department of Agrarian Development pointed out that due to the fact that some paddy owners change their paddy farmers from each cropping season, there has been a problem in obtaining information about them.
Therefore, the Minister instructed the Department of Agricultural Development to release the financial subsidies provided by the government for the purchase of fertilizers only to paddy owners and tenant cultivators.
In this regard, all the farmers will be informed and a circular will be issued next week.
