News
Major urea shortage; thousands of farmers in mudholes
Sri Lanka has run into a further shortage of Urea fertiliser needed for paddy cultivation after Pakistan this week turned down a request to provide urgent supplies.
A request by President Maithripala Sirisena to the Pakistani government had been turned down on the grounds that Pakistan had already stopped exports from October in view of the rising domestic demand.
Agriculture Ministry Secretary B. Wijeratne told the Sunday Times that in addition orders placed by four private companies to buy 38,000 metric tonnes of urea from Pakistan also had been rejected, forcing Sri Lanka to look for new suppliers. “We have run into shortages as the expected supplies from the private sector did not come. We are managing with the available stocks,” he said.
The state-owned Ceylon Fertilizer Co. Ltd Chairman Roshan Waduge said that a week ago, they had 10,000 metric tonnes and were distributing limited quantities.
“Some areas need additional supplies, but we will have to wait until the end of this month as the next shipment is due on December 31 from the West Asia,” he said.
The moves came as farmers in most areas were set to get off with their paddy cultivation activities with the availability of water. Paddy cultivation had been disrupted for four consecutive seasons due to a prolonged drought. The All Ceylon Farmers Federation Convenor Namal Karunaratna said farmers needed the urea fertilizer after four weeks of cultivation, but due to the scarcity of fertiliser their cultivation would be affected.
He said that due to the shortage, farmers were being forced to buy urea at higher prices, paying an additional Rs 1,000 for a 50kg bag. The government’s controlled price is Rs 2,500 for a 50 Kg bag. The delay in providing fertiliser in time is likely to affect the Maha Season paddy cultivation in which 800,000 acres are cultivated as opposed to the Yala season during which 600,000 acres are cultivated.
Irrigation Department officials said they had been advised to hold back the release of water as the required fertiliser stocks had not been received.
In view of the shortage of rice stocks in the market the government has already decided to import 100,000 metric tonnes of rice for the festive season.
