Sri Lanka has announced that a new subsidy for fertilisers would be granted to farmers with supplementary crop cultivations, expanding a scheme currently only available for paddy farmers.
Minister S.M. Chandrasena stated that the new subsidy was decided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapksa, after discussions with farmers. He announced that the new subsidy was a means of tackling a surplus of paddy cultivation.
The move comes just weeks after the government announced that the state-owned company Milco would buy all unsold milk from farmers and raised taxes on imported milk powders, following protests which saw 12,000 litres of milk poured down the streets of Hatton.
The government currently spends Rs. 40 billion a year on fertilizer subsidies.
See our earlier posts:
Government buys up local milk (10 May 2012)
Chinese lanterns flood Sri Lankan markets for Vesak (05 May 2012)
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