Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage speaking to media yesterday (02) made it clear that it is “mandatory” for the farmers to use all four types of fertiliser provided by the government in their crops in order to obtain compensations for the crop damages.

“Farmers took themselves on to the streets and demanded chemical fertiliser. Accordingly, the opportunity has been granted to import chemical fertiliser now. Therefore, anyone can use chemical fertiliser. But the government compensates only for the green agriculture. So, there are pesticides fungicides and fertiliser are available in the open market now. Any farmer, if he chooses to, can go for chemical agriculture. A farmer who is willing to provide a meal without losing a kidney can go for the eco-friendly agriculture.”

Q: How is the process of compensating for agri-damage being carried out?

“We have look into what the compensation is. First of all, we have given an application form to every farmer. We check whether the farmer has used our fertiliser. We have provided four types of fertiliser. We cannot compensate anyone who has not all four of them. The government has provided fertiliser, and it is being checked whether they have been used. The compensation is provided upon monitoring all that.

As a government, we provided organic fertiliser first. Then we provided bio liquid fertiliser. Then potassium chloride. Now nano-nitrogen is being provided. The farmer must have used these four types of fertiliser. We will be compensating only in the event in which a farmer has sustained a loss in his production upon the use of all four fertiliser said above. Otherwise, the government cannot compensate the farmer who did not use them and continues to open his mouth.”