Sri Lanka Government to provide fertiliser subsidy vouchers to paddy farmers from 22nd May

Sri Lankan farmer

A farmer works in a paddy field in the Ranala area near Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 30, 2022. (Photo by Pradeep Dambarage / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Subsidy Vouchers worth Rs. 20,000 per hectare will be provided to paddy farmers in Sri Lanka from tomorrow (May 22) for the cultivation of the ‘Yala’ season, the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Last month, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Minister of Finance decided to provide farmers Rs. 20,000 for one hectare of paddy cultivation and Rs. 40,000 for two hectares.

Accordingly, the government has decided to provide the necessary financial allocations in the form of subsidy vouchers to 650,000 farmers for the purchase of chemical or organic fertilisers, in order to reduce the production costs of the farmers who cultivate paddy in the upcoming ‘Yala’ season.

Thereby, measures have been taken to provide a voucher to the value of Rs. 20,000 per hectare, and Rs. 40,000 per two hectares to paddy farmers through the Department of Agricultural Development.

This year, the amount allocated by the government for fertiliser subsidy is Rs. 10 billion.