The Govijana Association yesterday said the farmer community was ready to come to President’s House on the 17th with their farming equipment and mud on the body, wearing span cloth (Amude) to express their protest for curtailing the fertilizer subsidy and reducing the guaranteed price for rice.

The Association’s National Organizer Namal Karunaratne said more problems have arisen with the budget proposals this time due to moves to reduce the famer pension by Rs. 50/- and allegedly provide farmers’ lands to multinational companies.

He further said the allowance of Rs. 25,000 payable to a farmer each year on behalf of fertilizer subsidy was not sufficient and a farmer would thus have to bear a loss of around Rs. 7,000 on an acre. (Diana Udayangani)