Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries Mahinda Amaraweera, announced that a national week for the implementation of the Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship Village Program will be held from July 01st to 07th.
He also stated that the government has decided to provide free MOP fertilizer for paddy cultivation to farmers for the next two seasons.
Minister Amaraweera made these remarks during a press briefing themed “Collective Path to a Stable Country”, held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) yesterday (26).
Addressing the press briefing, the minister further elaborated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries has launched various programs to attract youth to the agriculture sector and as part of this effort, 160 villages across the 25 districts in the country have been selected to become Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship Villages.
To support this initiative, a national week for the Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship Village Program will be held from July 01 to 07. In the first phase, Rs. 10 million will be allocated for projects in each village, totalling Rs. 1,600 million, he said.
In 2022, the country faced a rice shortage and had to import 800,000 metric tons of rice and the government had to spend about USD 300 million. However, in 2023, the country was able to produce its entire rice requirement. For 2024, the national rice requirement is 4.1 million metric tons, and the total rice production in 2023 was 4.5 million metric tons, Amaraweera said.
“Our goal is to double rice cultivation over the next five cropping seasons. To achieve this, we are introducing a technical package for paddy cultivation,” said the minister.
He added that in order to increase the productivity of paddy cultivation, special programs will be implemented to boost rice yield across 100,000 hectares in various areas. Recent years have seen an increase in crop damage due to climatic effects, he pointed out.
Minister Amaraweera further stated that they have not yet achieved self-sufficiency in egg and milk production. Poultry and cattle farming have been impacted by the decline in maize production used for animal feed, resulting from the fertilizer shortage in 2021.
The national maize requirement in the country is 600,000 metric tons. In the “Maha” season of 2023, maize production increased to 221,249 metric tons.
He further said: “We have launched a new program to boost egg production. In the next two months, 160,000 chicks will be distributed to entrepreneurs in 160 Youth Agri-Entrepreneurship Villages.
Additionally, we are addressing the rise in the price of coconut oil in the market.
Currently, the government charges Rs.150 per liter of imported coconut oil. As the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, I will propose a reduction of this amount to the Cabinet. The Coconut Development Authority states that the country’s annual coconut oil requirement is 25,868 metric tons, and currently, there are 51,457 metric tons of coconut oil available.
Furthermore, the increase in fertilizer prices has impacted other crops, including paddy.
As a result, we requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to obtain MOP fertilizer. The organization has agreed to supply 55,000 metric tons of MOP fertilizer. The government will distribute fertilizer free of charge to farmers for paddy cultivation for the upcoming two seasons.
Additionally, we have arranged fertilizer subsidies used in tea cultivation. Government-owned fertilizer companies are producing tea fertilizer and offering it at a 50% discount compared to market prices. The expenditure on this fertilizer subsidy amounts to Rs.12 billion”, said Minister Amaraweera.
--PMD
