World Bank to provide financial assistance to Lanka for fertiliser supplies

COLOMBO: The World Bank has agreed to provide the necessary financial assistance to debt-ridden Sri Lanka to obtain urea fertiliser for the upcoming Maha season in the country, according to a media report.

Maha Season falls during the "North-east monsoon" from September to March in the following year. Currently, Yala season is going on. Yala is the season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka that lasts between May and August.

The agreement between the WB and Sri Lanka was reached during a discussion held recently between the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera and representatives of the World Bank office in Sri Lanka at the Ministry of Agriculture, the Colombo Page news portal reported on Wednesday.

Amaraweera said that the representatives of the World Bank have agreed to provide the relevant financial assistance during the discussion held regarding the obtaining of chemical fertilizers required for paddy cultivation during the Maha season this year.

The Minister said that he appreciated the support extended by the World Bank to the programme to provide rice to the people of the country without any shortage in the future.

Amaraweera further said the discussions are expected to be held with other institutions such as the World Bank to provide fertilisers and agrochemicals required for paddy cultivation as well as other cultivations.

The Sri Lankan government banned chemical fertilisers last year as part of a phased transition towards organic agriculture. The dearth of adequate supplies of organic fertilisers affected agricultural output, especially rice and tea, and caused a food shortage with crop losses amounting to 50 per cent.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a few weeks ago, admitted his decision to ban chemical fertilisers to go 100 per cent organic was wrong.

The agriculturists have warned that the country may encounter a food shortage by mid-August in the ongoing economic crisis.

Last month, India assured Sri Lanka to immediately supply 65,000 metric tonnes of urea to avoid any disruption in paddy cultivation.

Sri Lanka's annual fertiliser imports cost USD 400 million. Farmers across the country have protested against fertiliser shortages, saying they are being forced to abandon their farmlands.

Sri Lanka has more than 2 million farmers and up to 70 per cent of its 22 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.