Government is ready to supply necessary stocks of fertilizer on time for farmers to continue mahseasin paddy cultivation , the Agriculture ministry announced.
A Singapore-based Ameropa Asia Ltd. has been awarded the contract to supply Muriate of Potash (MOP) fertilizer for the 2022/2023 Maha cultivation season.
The proposal to this effect submitted by Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday.
“A total of 40,000 tons of MOP will be procured with the $ 50 million financial assistance provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),” said Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardana at the post Cabinet meeting media briefing on Tuesday. .
In a brief statement, the Government said the company was selected following the recommendations of the Standing Procurement Committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said that sufficient stocks of fertilizer has been ordered to meet the requirement of the Maha season, and these fertilizer stocks will be released to the farmers for cultivation shortly.
The minister said this during a discussion held on September 29 at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of the President’s Secretary Mr. Saman Ekanayake on the supply of fertilizer to meet the requirements of the Maha Season.
During this discussion chaired by Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera and State Minister for Agriculture Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva, the supply of organic and chemical fertilizers required for paddy farming and other agricultural activities in the Maha season, was discussed at length.
Accordingly, the Minister said that farmers could start the Maha season cultivations without any doubt.
He noted that sufficient stocks of fertilizer has been ordered to meet the requirement of the Maha season, and these fertilizer stocks will be released to the farmers for cultivation shortly.
The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a program to prevent the shortage of quality seed paddy required for paddy cultivation in the 2022/23 Maha season.
Seed paddy has been sown in 6,774.3 hectares this Yala season covering all nine provinces of the country including the Mahaweli Zone.
The Department of Agriculture has informed the Minister that steps have been taken to release 1,524 metric tons (MT) urea, 372.6 MT of TSP (Tipple Super Phosphate) and 406.5 MT of MOP (Muriate OF Potash) as required for the area of the paddy fields.
If seed paddy production is disrupted during the Yala season this year, it will be difficult to procure seed paddy for the 2022/23 Maha season. Therefore, these steps were taken to provide quality seed paddy to farmers, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the private sector has already released 147,000 bushels of seed paddy required for seed paddy cultivation this Yala season.
