Finance Ministry releases Rs.7bn for fertilizer subsidy this season

The Finance Ministry has released Rs.5.5 billion to the Agriculture Ministry to be distributed among the farmers to purchase fertilizer for the Maha season.  
According to a Finance Ministry statement, another Rs.1.5 billion was scheduled to be released yesterday (21st) at the request of the Agricultural Ministry. 
The coalition government decided to pay in cash directly to the paddy farmers instead of giving fertilizer under subsidized price. Accordingly, each farmer is set to receive up to Rs.25,000 per hectare for each Yala and Maha seasons separately to 
purchase fertilizer. 
“This has enabled the government to reduce the operational cost of arranging fertilizer under the subsidized scheme.

For the next year too, the government has allocated Rs.55 billion for purchasing fertilizer for the Yala and Maha seasons,” the Finance Ministry statement said. 
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.  The farmers will get Rs.50,000 per hectare for Yala and Maha seasons.