The Government will allocate Rs 67 billion to provide fertilizer subsidy to paddy farmers as the country is on the verge of reaching self-sufficiency in rice.

Rs 49 billion was spent on fertilizer subsidy this year and about 2535 metric tons to the tune of Rs.17 million has already been sent to Jaffna district.

The UNP and the JVP had challenged the Government during the recent provincial council elections campaigns that the fertilizer subsidy given to farmers would be cancelled after the elections. The Government will never discontinue the provision of fertilizer subsidy to farmers who are considered to be the backbone of the national economy, Agriculture and Agrarian Services Minister Maithrepala Sirisena told a media conference at the Hunupitiya Lanka Pohora Company auditorium yesterday.

Minister Sirisena said that Sri Lanka had achieved a 15 per cent increase in paddy production and the Ministry had formulated a plan to cultivate paddy in 700,000 hectares in the Eastern Province shortly. Paddy farmers across the country had been able to reap better harvests in paddy with a stable selling price imposed by the Government.

He outlined that with immediate effect no middlemen to purchase paddy from farmers would be in operation and the Government had decided that the respective District Secretary and the Divisional Secretary would be responsible for purchasing paddy from farmers. The recent fraud in paddy purchasing could be attributed to appointment of middlemen to deal with purchasing processes.