President intervenes on fixing price for fertilizer pack and import tax hike for potatoes & big onions

President Maithripala Sirisena gave instructions to fix the maximum price of Rs. 2500 for a pack of 50 kg fertilizer in any brand for farmers and increase the import tax for potatoes, big onions, with effect from midnight yesterday.

The President gave these instructions at a special meeting held yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat to discuss about the issues faced by the farmers island-wide.

President Sirisena, considering the difficulties of the farmers who had to buy the kg 50 fertilizer packs for different prices such as Rs. 2750, Rs. 3400 and Rs. 3500, gave these instructions to the officials to impose a fixed price.

He also instructed them to take actions to place the price on the fertilizer pack prominently so that anybody could see it. According to his instructions, the fertilizer of both state and private sector will be distributed through Agrarian Services Centers.

The President further directed the officials to credit the fertilizer subsidy of Rs 25,000, which is given to farmers per hectare, to any bank account given by the farmers. He instructed not to debit that credit for the loans they have taken from those banks.

Expressing his views the President said that the Government will not take any decision which will make farming community uncomfortable. He further stated that the aim of the Government is to prevent imposition of economic burdens on farmers.

According to the President Media Unit, President Sirisena promised to discuss issues related to fertilizer subsidy and purchasing paddy in detail at the next cabinet meeting and pledged to take steps to solve these issues.

A special discussion was held regarding these issues in Polonnaruwa yesterday, with the participation of representatives of farmers’ Organizations in Polonnaruwa District and special attention was drawn to the problems presented by them.

During the meeting the President reviewed the progress of the national food production program at divisional levels. Discussions were also held regarding the national exhibition, which is to be held on March 06-08 at the BMICH under the ‘Wasa Wisa Nathi Ratak’ national program.

Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thero, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Duminda Dissanayake, and officials participated in this meeting.