The government also decides to issue urea fertilizer to the farmers who grow maize.
The Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the relevant authorities to take steps to issue urea fertilizer to the farmers who planted maize this year.
The Minister said this in a recent meeting held at the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the investors who have come forward to start a factory for the production of SINGLE SUPER PHOSPHATE fertilizer in the vicinity of the Eppawala phosphate deposit.
In particular, the stock of urea fertilizer provided by the Indian government is to be received by Sri Lanka in the first week of this month.
Out of the 65,000 metric tons of that fertilizer, 50,000 metric tons are planned to be used for paddy cultivation and 10,000 metric tons for maize cultivation. Also 5000 MT of urea fertilizer and if some amount of urea fertilizer used for paddy cultivation in the Yala season is left, it is planned to give that amount for tea cultivation.
Currently, there is a huge shortage of maize, soybeans, sorghum and grass required for the production of animal feed in our country.
As a result, the daily production of milk, eggs and chicken has dropped drastically.
The government factory for the production of triphosha for mothers and children has also closed down due to the lack of maize, green beans and soybeans required.
Taking these facts into consideration, the Minister of Agriculture also mentioned that it is necessary to provide urea fertilizer to revive maize cultivation in our country.