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| Wednesday, 16 July 2003 |
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From Uditha Kumarasinghe in Mahailluppallama Agriculture and Livestock Minister, S. B. Dissanayake yesterday said when countries around the world are giving various subsidies to their farmers, it is not the right thing to curtail the subsidies given to farmers to conduct their agricultural activities. "If we can develop the agricultural sector without any subsidies, it would be a great fact to be admired. According to various challenges and problems faced by farmers, even developed countries have to grant various subsidies to farmers to uplift their agriculture", he said. The Minister made these observations at the opening ceremony of the agricultural exhibition organised by the Field Crops Research and Development Institute (FCRDI) at Mahailluppallama to mark its centenary. North Central Province Chief Minister, Berty Premalal Dissanayake, Anuradhapura District MP, Chandrani Bandara and several provincial politicians also participated. Dissanayake said at present free electricity and fertiliser subsidy have been given to Indian farmers. Even farmers in the US are granted subsidies. Therefore the agriculture sector cannot be developed without granting subsidies to farmers. The Minister said at present the government grants only Rs. 6000 per one ton of urea fertiliser. Earlier the government paid Rs. 10,000 to importers per ton of urea fertiliser imported. The steps taken by the government to reduce the money granted to import urea fertiliser has resulted to increase the price of 50 kg. bag of urea fertiliser from Rs. 350 to Rs. 850. "If the government further reduced this relief package given to fertiliser importers, the price of a 50kg. bag of urea fertiliser will be increased to nearly Rs. 1400. He said the present Farmer's Pension Scheme was introduced by late Agriculture Minister, Gamini Jayasuriya during the period of J. R. Jayewardene government. Since its inception the government granted 20 per cent and 50 per cent respectively to a farmer who obtained the membership of Farmer's Pension Scheme at the age of 18 and 55 years. However today the government contributes 70 per cent and 95 per cent on behalf of the members who joined this Farmer Pension Scheme at the age of 18 and 55 years. "According to this situation the government has no ability to stop this Farmer Pension Scheme," the Minister said. The Minister said over 800,000 farmers have obtained membership of this Farmer's Pension Scheme implemented by the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board (AAIB). At present the AAIB is mainly dependent on the interest gained for its small amount of bank deposits. The monthly instalment paid by the framers to the AAIB is the only income generating avenue of the AAIB. Earlier the AAIB obtained 17 or 18 per cent interest for its bank deposits. At present this interest rate has been reduced to a mere 7 per cent, he said. Immediate steps should be taken to educate farmers to develop crop varieties and the animal husbandry sector. In addition the government should offer concessions to medium and large scale investors to develop the productivity of the agricultural sector. Dissanayake said even today majority of country's people are actively engaged in the agriculture sector. Nearly 40 per cent of people are mainly dependent on agriculture while 40 per cent of people are connected to the agriculture sector. The contribution of the agriculture sector to the national production is nearly 19 per cent. "We have a major role to play to develop the country's agriculture." Steps should be taken to introduce modern technologies to farmers and encourage them to use new cultivation methods. In a situation where over 40 per cent of the people are dependent on agriculture immediate measures have to be taken by the Agriculture Ministry to infuse modern technology into the agricultural sector by increasing the harvest of agricultural crops, he said. Anuradhapura District MP, Chandrani Bandara said Minister S. B. Dissanayake has a great interest to uplift the living conditions of country's farmer community. During the past few days the Minister raised an affective voice in the government for the well-being of farmers, she said. |
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