President Maithripala Sirisena has intervened to address the fertiliser shortage in the country by requesting for 75,000 MT of fertilizer to be sent to Sri Lanka from Pakistan. The President has made to request directly from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi a Ministry official said.
The move comes in the wake of a meeting chaired by Sirisena to discuss the shortage faced by farmers in the country.
According to Ministry sources, the Pakistani counterpart has agreed to the request made by President Sirisena.
The shipment is expected in the country by end-December to ensure that farmers have fertilizer to use for the current season, which comes after a drawn-out drought affecting the cultivation for over three seasons, President Sirisena had informed Cabinet yesterday.
The fertiliser shortage experienced by farmers has been due to exports of fertilizer from Pakistan being suspended to enable domestic use while the rising prices of fertiliser in the world market have also affected domestic supply with companies being reluctant to import stocks for sale as they have to adhere to the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Rs. 2,500 which will cut into their profits.
Leave your comments
Login to post a comment
Post comment as a guest