Finance Ministry releases Rs. 7 b to farmers engaged in paddy cultivation in Maha season

The Finance Ministry has released Rs. 5.5 billion to the Agriculture Ministry to be distributed among farmers to purchase fertiliser for the Maha season. As per the request of the Agriculture Ministry another Rs. 1.5 billion is scheduled to be released within the week. 

The present Government decided to pay cash directly to paddy farmers instead of giving fertiliser under subsidised price. Accordingly farmers will receive Rs. 25,000 per hectare for each Maha and Yala seasons separately to purchase fertiliser. This has enabled the Government to reduce the operational cost of arranging fertiliser under the subsidised scheme. For the next year too, the Government has allocated Rs. 55 billion for the purchasing of fertiliser for the Yala and Maha Season.

Since the Finance Ministry has compiled a database of farmers engaged in paddy cultivation, once the request has been received from the Agricultural Ministry, the money will be directly debited to the farmers’ accounts. Farmers will get Rs. 50,000 per hectare for Yala and Maha season.