Coconut growers call for reintroduction of fertiliser subsidy

The Coconut Growers' Association urged the government to reintroduce the fertiliser subsidy immediately to enhance soil fertility and coconut production at the 11th Annual General Meeting held at the BMICH Colombo on Saturday.

President of the Association J. V. R. Dias addressing the gathering said that increasing the coconut productivity is their main concern, and among the measures needed, application of fertiliser whether chemical or organic is of vital importance to enhance soil fertility and coconut production. He said that less than 15% of the coconut lands have been fertilised during in 2004 which could worsen in the future.

"Although there is a positive sign that the farm gate price of coconut is around Rs. 12 the total income of the grower has improved only marginally as crops have gone down.

For well maintained lands the cost of production has gone up and is now around Rs. 8-10, he said. Eighty five per cent of the coconut growers depend on the income from the land for their livelihood and the little profit they generate is totally inadequate to invest on soil fertility enhancing measures.

He insisted the necessity of similar assistance for those using organic fertiliser too Adult palm fertiliser mixer now cost around Rs. 24,000 per ton and a 25 kg bag of cow dung or poultry droppings cost around Rs. 40.

Dias said that the other threats they face are from the edible oil importers and Vanaspathi projects. Irregular imports of copra and excessive quantities of edible oil more than what has been stated in documents come into the country has affected the Cess collection.

The Coconut Growers' Association has 700,000 coconut growers and 70% of the members own less than 25 acres, of which around half own less than 10 acres according the statistics of the Association.

(RK)