Coconut Growers call for fertiliser subsidy

BY HIRAN H. Senewiratne

THE Coconut Growers' Association of Sri Lanka (CGASL) requests the Government to recommence the fertiliser subsidy for growers to increase production in the coming year.

Present weather conditions in the country are favourable to the industry to increase the coconut harvest to more than three billion nuts. The application of fertiliser is necessary now, its President J.V.R. Dias said.

There is a drastic drop in the application of fertiliser in most coconut lands by growers due to the high fertiliser cost, that would result in the drop in coconut harvest in the coming seasons, Dias said.

The proper application of fertiliser for coconut lands this year can anticipate a coconut output of between 2.7-3 billion nuts in 2006. This amount is quite sufficient to entire coconut related industry to survive, he said.

The government should take this matter seriously and restore the subsidy scheme as soon as possible to increase the fertiliser application to increase the yield. The coconut subsidy was two years ago given by the government, he said.

At present, growers have to pay Rs 24,000 for a ton on adult palm mixture, which is an important nutrition for coconut trees. The CGASL request the government a subsidy of Rs 5000 for a ton, which is a big consolation for growers due to increasing fertiliser charges, he said.

The subsidy could be given to the growers by utilising the Cess Fund, which will not be any burden to the Treasury, he said.

The average cost of a production per nut is around Rs 7 and the farm gate price is around Rs 10, which is not economical for growers with the increase of fertiliser prices in the country, he said.

At present more than 700,000 growers in the country out of which 80 per cent are small growers have land areas of less than 25 acres.