The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said that USAID had agreed to provide 36,000 metric tons of TSP (Triple Super Phosphate) fertilizer for paddy cultivation here. The Ministry also mentioned that steps had been taken to permanently provide free of charge to the farmers.

Although the country’s economic crisis had taken its toll on the importation of urea fertilizer, MOP and triple super Phosphate fertilizer for paddy cultivation, the government had been able to procure and make available urea fertilizer and MOP fertilizer for paddy and maize cultivation, Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.A progress review meeting was held at the Ministry of Agriculture on the distribution of fertilizers required for the 2022/23 Maha season.

“We faced a problem in finding funds to provide basic fertilizer or triple super Phosphate fertilizer. But USAID has agreed to provide 36,000 metric tons of TSP fertilizer,” the Minister added.

However, he said that it was difficult to procure fertilizer for this season because TSP or Triple Super Fertilizer was produced in Ukraine and Russia.The minister also said that the triple super fertilizer would be issued free of charge to the farmers for the next Yala season.

Soil testing conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture throughout the country had confirmed that except for a few districts in the Eastern Province, soil in almost all the other districts of the county contained enough phosphorus. Steps should be taken to issue fertilizer on the basis of soil tests, said Mr. Rohana Pushpakumara, the Secretary of Agriculture Ministry.

According to soil tests, there is a high amount of phosphorus in the soils of the North-West and North-Central Provinces. Although phosphorous level was low in the Eastern Province, rock phosphate could be used to boost it. Therefore, during the Maha season, there will not be a significant reduction in the yield of paddy cultivation, and there may be a yield reduction of between five and 10 percent, said Pushpakumara.