He said that due to the high price of fertilizers in the world market and the ban on chemical fertilizers in Sri Lanka, traders have taken steps to sell the stocks of fertilizers at a higher price. The Minister further informed the Committee that steps will be taken to ban the licenses of traders who act in an arbitrary manner and that the Government will take steps to strictly regulate it from this season.
The Minister also informed the Committee that he intends to regulate the price of chemical fertilizer taking in to account the price in the world market. He also said that there would be no change in the government's policy of providing organic fertilizer subsidy to farmers.
The State Minister Hon. Shashindra Rajapaksa who participated at the Committee stated that the main objective of the Government is to maintain the quality of green agriculture and that necessary steps will always be taken for that. As the quantity and type of fertilizer to be applied varies according to the land and environmental conditions of each district in Sri Lanka, a production team consisting of officers including the District Secretary, Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian, Assistant Director of Agrarian and other officials will be appointed to identify the needs at each district, the State Minister further said.
Several Annual Reports including the Annual Report of Lanka Phosphate Company for the year 2019/20, the Annual Report of the Commercial Fertilizer Company, Colombo for the year 2018/2019, and the Annual Report of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research Institute, 2019 were also considered by the Committee. State Ministers Hon. D.B Herath and Hon. S Viyalanderan, Members of Parliament and Government Officials were present at the meeting.